The FAYZ Trials
by TrudiRose25
Summary: It's a post FAYZ world and everyone has made it out alive, however life won't be as plain sailing as the FAYZ kids had hoped - the world wants them in court, on trial for the crimes the committed during the FAYZ. Who will walk away and who will have to pay the price? All will be revealed in the FAYZ Trials.
1. Chapter 1

The FAYZ Trials

Freddy Wishman read over his case notes for the final time before stepping out into the court room. He was about to take part as a prosecuting barrister on the world's most talked about trials since Nuremburg.

The FAYZ Trials. A series of unbelievable cases. A town full of kids trapped underneath a massive dome where weird mutations took place and normal life had crashed and burnt. Freddy had read the notes and was aware of the difficult situations that those kids had been through whilst in the FAYZ. But there were still some events that would not go unnoticed back in reality.

Today he was a part of what was labelled The Mineshaft Incident. It involved the murder of Duck Zang. Two boys, twins, namely Caine Soren and Sam Temple had thrown Duck into what was known as the Darkness, an unexplainable being that caused chaos and tragedy inside the FAYZ. Freddy knew that Mr Zang had effectively sacrificed himself by telling the boys to throw him at the Darkness which was also known as the Gaiaphage. Mr Zang had a mutation that allowed him to sink or rise through space and solid objects, by being thrown he would close up the mineshaft and prevail the Darkness. These two boys had thrown him which meant that they had killed him, or, to be more precise sacrificed him. It was delicate ground, Freddy knew that there would have been no malice involved but it was his job to make sure the jury knew what decision to make.

"Mr Sam Temple you are being trialled for the murder of Mr Duck Zang, how do you plead?"

The boy looked a bag of nerves, Freddy could see the fear in his eyes. His opponent, the boy's defendant was his good friend Karim Smith, Freddy sighed, this wasn't going to be easy.

"Not guilty," the boy mumbled.

The judge nodded and began to reel off the events of that night for the jury. They'd already been told one hundred times and Freddy was eager to get into action but formalities were formalities and they had to be done.

"So Mr Temple and Mr Soren both agreed to throw Mr Zang into the Darkness," the judge's tone was dry and disbelieving, Freddy knew it sounded absurd but the case had to be taken seriously. "Now we shall hear from Mr Wishman the prosecutor,"

Freddy stood up and faced the jury, he braced himself. Over the years he'd been branded as inconsiderate, unprofessional and ruthless but that hadn't stopped him from being selected for the world's most anticipated trials, nor had it stopped him from successfully bringing over twenty murderers, ten rapists and five terrorists to justice in his six year career. The world held its breath as Freddy carefully formed his expression for the cameras. It was to be the first globally televised, live court case in history and Freddy wanted to look his best. Set in London, the kids had travelled halfway across the world and whilst Mr Temple looked tired and scared, Freddy looked sharp and alert in his Armani suit.

"Mr Temple," he began "How is it that you can condone tossing a fellow human being into a creature that you knew was capable of killing and destroying Mr Zang?" Always a good opener-question the morals.

"Duck told us to," replied Sam. Freddy grinned ready for his next question.

"So If I told you to play in traffic you would?"

"No, but we didn't just throw him for no reason we were rescuing Lana,"

"Ah yes!" Freddy said theatrically smiling as the cameraman closest to him moved over for a better angle of his face. "You were part of a rescue squad, I forgot!" the sarcasm worked well and Sam Temple flushed red.

"Remind me again, who is this Lana we're talking about?" Freddy played fake innocence-ironic being in a courtroom.

"Lana was the Healer, she'd been possessed by the Gaiaphage but we had to get her out of the mineshaft because Edilio and Diana were dying."

Now the complicated part, Freddy knew about Miss Arwen-Lazar's possession by the Darkness and so did the jury but Freddy needed to make sure he got all of the details.

"So, Mr Temple, you decided to courageously enter the mineshaft to go and rescue the 'Healer' so that you could save others?" Sam Temple nodded slowly and then added quickly

"We wanted to save her too, we would have gone and saved her anyway, not just because there were people hurt!"

"Sure, sure," Freddy said with mock understanding. The boy was nervous and reluctant to engage Freddy decided that offending him might work well.

"So tell me Mr Temple, when you bravely decided to enter this mineshaft, was Mr Zang a volunteer or did you persuade him to 'tag along'" Freddy knew the answer full-well. Mr Zang had been blackmailed into going into the mineshaft by Mr Quinn Gaither.

"Well, we did have to persuade him a little," Sam Temple replied.

"Oh I see, a simple 'no thank-you' wasn't acceptable no?" Freddy spotted the jury raising their eyebrows and facing Sam Temple with sceptical looks.

"Duck had powers! We needed strong people to come down in there with us!" Sam Temple's voice was shaking now and Freddy smiled with satisfaction. In the corner of his eye Freddy could see Karim squirming in his seat, itching to have his say. Freddy decided he'd wrap things up for the time being.

"Okay, Mr Temple I understand, safety in numbers right?" and he indicated to the judge that he'd said his piece-for now.

Karim stood up and addressed the jury.

"Alright folks, what we have to understand here is that there kids were not in a circumstance that any of us can ever begin to imagine,"

Freddy smirked, typical Karim talking to the jury first. To be fair, he had the tougher job of the two. It was easy to accuse the kids but Karim had the harder job of defending actions that sounded so barbaric.

"Okay Sam," Karim addressed Mr Temple informally "Tell me, did Duck ask you to thrown him?"

"Yes,"

"And were you aware that this was a highly dangerous action?"

"Of course I was,"

"But you had little time to think the action through?" Karim prompted.

"Sure, we had the Darkness right there in front of us, Lana was possessed and we had literally seconds to make a decision, it was a miracle that Duck thought so quickly." Sam Temple seemed more relaxed and Freddy noticed the jury nodding.

"So when Mr Zang suggested sacrificing himself you acted quickly." Karim wasn't asking he was stating.

"Thank-you, Mr Smith, now I will open the court for Mr Wishman and yourself to further question Mr Temple." The judge said

Freddy was up in a flash.

"Okay, I understand you had little time," he said thinking fast "but you had a lot more time whilst on solid ground, so much time in fact that you bribed Mr Zang with food in order to come down with you"

"It was a fish." Karim responded

"In a time where food was a luxury," Freddy countered "So why, Mr Temple was there the desperate need to drag Mr Zang down with you, after all Mr Soren and yourself were both 'four bars'" Freddy used the term that he'd had to familiarise himself with and from the reaction of the jury, they too knew what a 'four bar' meant.

"We needed back up." Sam Temple replied looking scared.

"Back up suggests that Mr Soren and yourself would have tried to defeat the Darkness prior to Mr Zang's heroic display," Freddy had him there, the jury and the people in the gallery began to murmur in agreement."

"Mr Temple was not to know that Mr Zang would be needed sooner than expected." Karim said but Freddy already had his comeback.

"So you're saying that Mr Temple was intending to 'use' Mr Zang at some point?" Karim hesitated and faltered, then he slowly replied.

"No, I'm saying that Mr Temple did not have any specific intentions regarding Duck Zang neither did he ask him to enter the mineshaft with any pre-planned ideas."

Karim was good, he'd really watched his words, Freddy had to think hard on how to retaliate, he decided to change his tactic.

"So Mr Temple, was it not possible for you and Mr Soren to find an alternative way of saving Miss Ladris and Mr Escobar without the help of Miss Arwen-Lazar or were none of you familiar with basic first aid?" it was below the belt but it opened a new debate. Why was The Healer so important?

"Edilio Escobar had been shot!" Karim snapped at Freddy "I don't think pressure and elevate would have helped him out there, and Miss Ladris was concussed, The Healer was vital for their chances of saving the lives of the two who were injured!"

"Alright then let me ask you this: who shot Mr Escobar?" Freddy was very confident that by now he was winning. Lana had shot Mr Escobar and yet they wanted to bring her back? Freddy was interested to hear how Karim would respond to that.

"Yes, it was Miss Arwen-Lazar who shot Mr Escobar, however," he stressed he however. "She shot him whilst under the influence of the Darkness, which is worse than any drug or substance we have been exposed to in the past."

"Were you not concerned that she would not help you?" Freddy decided that Mr Temple ought to speak for himself before Karim got too good.

"I had faith in Lana,"

Clever. Very clever, Freddy could see what Temple was doing. Playing the 'I knew what I was doing' card. Well that was a gamble that Freddy hoped would not pay off.

"Speaking off faith Mr Temple," Freddy spoke as an idea materialised in his head. "Did you think that it would be acceptable to play God?"

"Excuse me?" Sam Temple asked looking genuinely bemused.

"Well, it seems pretty clear to me that you thought that it was okay to save Miss Ladris and Mr Escobar but not really care too much about Mr Zang or am I getting the wrong end of the stick?" Freddy winked at the cameras hoping to boost his Google search rate.

"Mr Wishman!" Karim looked really annoyed now and it pleased Freddy.

"What's wrong Mr Smith? Didn't you realise that this sick boy had it all planned?" he scoffed playing the ever so useful 'insult both client and lawyer."

"Order! Order!" the judge intervened. "Alright let's wrap this up, Mr Wishman your plea please."

"Yes your Honour," Freddy turned to the jury whilst carefully angling himself so that the cameras would get his good side. "Okay folks, you've heard what he has to say," he jerked his thumb towards Sam Temple who looked pale and scared. "Sure he didn't intend to kill Mr Zang but he didn't hesitate in doing so, he decided that Mr Zang's life was worth less than those of Mr Escobar and Miss Ladris-he decided that when he aided Mr Soren in throwing Mr Zang to his death-think, would you want a boy like that out on the streets? One who decides which people should live and which people should die? The decision is yours but could any of you live knowing a killer walks free?" he paused and slowly, dramatically sat back down. Karim stood up looking irritated.

"Now if you bought that then you obviously have no real understanding of the horrors these kids went through during their time within the FAYZ. Mr Temple did not chose to kill Mr Zang and technically speaking he did not kill him, the Darkness did. Mr Temple should be receiving help and support, he has been through hell and has witnessed the death of his friend Duck Zang, and if you send this boy to prison then you will never understand how brave and strong this boy has been." Smooth, Freddy thought, using the 'praise the brave boy' tactic, it was one that always touched the hearts of the jury and would normally throw a spanner in the works.

"Thank-you gentlemen," the judge said "The jury will come to their decision in due course, for now we shall take a recess," he dismissed them and Freddy watched as Sam Temple was escorted from the room by the police.

Karim was all too aware of the cameras in the court room. He thought it was unprofessional to exploit the fate of children on global television. The whole thing seemed like one big movie set and Freddy was the big smarmy hero.

Karim had known Freddy for years, they'd gone to law school together but, despite being close friends Karim didn't like Freddy in the courtroom. Freddy didn't 'play fair,' naturally they were against each other-he was defending the boys and Freddy was trying to send them down, but this was more that professional rivalry, Karim felt Freddy was only taking part to boost his ego. Maybe it was because Freddy had originally planned to go to a performing arts college, maybe that was why he was such a dramatist? Whatever it was they were chalk and cheese.

Karim checked his notes as he prepared to go back into the courtroom. Caine Soren was a strange boy, child psychologists had labelled him a sociopath and capricious yet, when Karim had met with the boy he'd been charming, polite and honest about the terrible things he'd done. Now that was a list! Caine Soren along with Sam Temple wasn't just being trialled on the Mineshaft Incident case but also the Thanksgiving Massacre, The Human Crew Fire, The Night of Blackness, The Night of Spilt Blood and so many others that the boy looked like a candidate for Death Row. Karim wasn't going to let the jury send him down though, Caine Soren had been put in a difficult situation and had also saved lives and helped out in the FAYZ Community on several occasions.

"I think it's safe to say that you can't find any excuses for what this kid has done," Freddy was standing behind him with a skinny latte in one hand and the latest Blackberry in the other.

"Oh wait and see Frederick," Karim replied hoping to sound confident even though what Freddy said had an element of truth.

The two of them headed back into the courtroom; Caine Soren was already there with four big security guards either side of him. This boy needed more security than Sam Temple, although their powers had disappeared after the FAYZ disappeared they both still had traces of mutant power left and Caine Soren was more likely to use his.

"Mr Caine Soren you are accused of the murder of Duck Zang, how do you plead?"

Caine Soren smiled a feral smile revealing a gleaming set of teeth,

"Not guilty."


	2. Chapter 2

The FAYZ Trials – Chapter 2

The judge re-explained the situation to the jury. Caine and Sam had gone into the mineshaft along with Duck Zang in order to rescue the Healer and save their friends. As far as Karim was concerned, Caine had only thrown the boy in the heat of the moment without thinking of the consequences. Besides, Duck Zang had asked them to throw him, but Karim wasn't going to say that in court. He'd made that mistake before and had been called insensitive and had received a three week suspension.

Freddy was first to question Caine Soren but, this time Karim was confident that Caine would hold his own ground unlike Sam who had crumbled under the pressure.

"So Mr Soren, you killed Duck Zang." Freddy said not expecting an answer, Karim hated the way Freddy strutted about the courtroom like a school headteacher. At least Caine wasn't fazed...or "fayzed" for that matter.

"You threw a boy to his death and played God, you decided who was more important and who's life wasn't quite as worthy." Freddy was trying not to smile but his well rehearsed speech did hit home with the jury. Karim had no speeches or propaganda, he was going to play it fair, this was a court after all.

"On the contrary," Caine Soren said raising a hand as though in general conversation, as soon as he did so the four guards raised their guns and the courtroom gasped and a few people let out small cries. Caine looked a little surprised and glanced to his left, and then he smiled and lowered his hand. "Oh, sorry." The courtroom settled down and for a split second Karim spotted Freddy looking dumbfounded by the boy's apparent lack of fear as four machine guns had raised to his head.

"Had I wanted to decide who should live and who should die then I'd have made some sort of list, but as you know, I have no such list-and if I did? Duck Zang probably wouldn't have even made the list; he was irrelevant to me,"

The courtroom fell silent. Karim smiled slightly, Caine Soren got one over Freddy Wishman! But Freddy wasn't deterred for long.

"Well he seemed relevant enough to take down into the mineshaft." A few people on the judging bench nodded and said 'hear, hear'

Caine smiled modestly as though someone had just complimented him.

"Sir, Duck was a freak-" some people made tutting noises but the judge intervened and explained the term. "Thank-you your Honour," Caine said and the judge looked uncomfortable. "As I was saying; Duck was a freak and we, Sam and myself, believed that the three of us should have gone down, had there been another four freaks at the scene we would have persuaded them to all come as well."

"But Duck Zang said no," Freddy countered and Karim noticed that he wasn't as charming as before, in fact Freddy looked a little stressed, a red flush was slowly creeping up his neck.

"None of us wanted to go into the mineshaft." Caine responded. "But we had to step up."

The judge indicated that it was Karim's turn to question Caine, and he had some well thought questions.

"Mr Soren, you did not live in the town like the rest of the children did you?" he asked. Caine Soren answered politely,

"No I did not, I lived in Coates Academy with some of my fellow students."

"So you didn't know Miss Arwen-Lazar well?" Karim had thought through these questions the night before and they were risky, Freddy could easily manipulate them.

"No I hardly knew her," he replied. "Neither did I know Mr Zang," he added as an afterthought.

"So are you telling me Mr Soren that; even though you did not know The Healer and had no sentimental feelings towards her, you still volunteered to enter the mine and save her? Quite commendable if you ask me," Karim glanced at Freddy who was expressionless-had his poker face on.

"Well, I couldn't just leave her there could I?" Caine said turning to the jury with a sweet, innocent look plastered across his face. Karim was satisfied that he'd played his cards correctly as the jury began to whisper amongst themselves and steal glances at Caine Soren.

But then Freddy stood up and revealed his hand.

"Mr Soren I was under the impression you went into the mine in order to save Miss Ladris?" he asked and the cameras swivelled to get a better look at him.

Caine shrugged,

"Well of course, she was hurt and needed the Healer, as was Edilio," he added. "Is that such a bad thing? To want to help people?"

Freddy didn't answer, instead he asked another question.

"But, correct me if I'm wrong, weren't you in a ...well, how shall I put it? A relationship with Miss Ladris?" the jury gasped and all eyes averted to Caine Soren's expression, he was smiling.

"Oh no!" he smiled "Miss Ladris and myself were simply friends,"

"Friends with benefits right?" Freddy winked at Caine in his unprofessional manner, Karim glared up at the judge hoping he would intervene but judging by the look on his face he was hooked.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Caine replied, his face less content as it had been moments ago.

"Well is it not true that you and Miss Ladris shared a bed whilst in the FAYZ?" Freddy couldn't hide the laughter in his voice, Karim jumped out of his seat,

"That alleged incident occurred after the time span in hand!" he said sharply, "Can we please keep to the chronological order of events please?" Freddy glowered at him and Caine let out a small sigh.

"Alright then fine, but surely you found Diana Ladris attractive?"

"Who doesn't" Caine replied smoothly

Karim was annoyed, Freddy's comment had influenced the jury, but Caine's turbulent relationship with Diana Ladris had occurred after the Mineshaft Inccident, any feelings towards Miss Ladris were irrelevant.

"Witnesses claim that you were distraught when you saw the blood around her head, that you were adamant about going to get the Healer," Freddy was really trying to eat into Caine now.

"Well naturally I was distraught, there was a girl with her head smashed in and a by who'd been shot in the chest." Caine sounded irritated and Karim hoped that Freddy hadn't managed to threaten Caine's cool exterior.

"But Mr Quinn Gaither has stated that you were crying and told Mr Temple that you loved Miss Ladris," Freddy smirked as Caine flushed slightly.

"I felt like I was responsible for her injury, I was the one who'd brought her to the mineshaft, I had the uranium rod," Caine sounded more than irritated now

"Ah yes the uranium rod," Freddy was in control now Karim knew it, "A whole new kettle of fish."

"May I remind you Mr Wishman, that the Uranium Spillage is a separate incident," Caine said much to the surprise of everyone and much to the annoyance of Freddy, Caine saw the irritation, "Yes, Mr Wishman I am aware of the number of cases I am to trialled on."

"Alright let's wrap this up then shall we?" the judge said although it sounded as if he wanted to hear more. Great, thought Freddy even the judge thinks this case is one big soap opera. "Mr Wishman your plea."

Freddy straightened up and spoke to the cameras,

"This boy killed another so that he could save the girl he had a childish crush on, he did not think twice, he killed in cold blood," Freddy paused and faltered, what else could he say? Everything he'd tried to throw against Caine had been knocked straight back. "He is a killer," he sighed feebly and sat back down.

Karim stood up and said his bit,

"Caine Soren, risked his own life to save those of others whom he hardly knew, his involvement with the throwing of Duck Zang can be put down to consenting to what Mr Zang told him to do and was a heat-of-the-moment act, there is no way this boy can be guilty, the only thing he is guilty of is heroism."

Caine smiled and was taken away.

Quinn waited nervously for his turn. He'd seen Sam and Caine walk into the courtroom and return looking almost satisfied. He was scared, scared because he knew that Freddy Wishman would slaughter him. He was guilty. He had bribed Duck with food. Only because he was worried about Lana and Edilio...mainly Lana though.

"Quinn, it's your turn." Karim poked his head in through the door and smiled at Quinn he tried to smile back but his jaw was clenched in anxiety. "Hey don't worry pal, it'll be fine," Karim added seeing Quinn's expression. Okay sure, Quinn thought, everything will be fine.

"So Mr Gaither, the man in the middle," Freddy was still annoyed that Caine Soren had gotten the better of him earlier that morning and so he was ready to rip into Quinn Gaither. "You are not accused of murder so I'd lighten up a little kid," he smirked at the boy's ashen face.

"Blackmail is nevertheless, a serious crime, especially when essentially it leads one to a premature death." He peered over to Karim to test his reaction. Nothing.

"Why did you do it?" Freddy wasn't in the mood for elaborate dramatics, he just wanted to rip into Quinn and bring Karim down a peg or two.

"I...I don't know" Quinn's voice was barely a whisper.

"So you don't deny it?"

"Well, no...I mean...I don't know."

"How can you not know if you were blackmailing someone?" Freddy laughed "Oh wait, let me guess-were you being 'possessed' by the Darkness too?"

"Order! Order!" Freddy glared up at the judge but bit his tongue and carried on.

"Alright Mr Gaither, you blackmailed him, but why? Why Quinn why?" he raised his hands in mock distress and Quinn looked as though he were about to break down and cry.

"Because...because...I don't know," Freddy shook his head in irritation

"How can you not know? He purposely promised Mr Zang a fish-yes really ladies and gentlemen- and he went to his death because of you! All I want to know is why you did so that we can determine which branch of mental asylum we can send you to,"

"Thank you Mr Wishman," the judge interrupted "Mr Smith please."

Freddy fell into his chair and frowned, his mind was still on Caine Soren the brat who'd tried to undermine him. He only hoped the jury would see what a conniving little creep he really was.

"Let me just set something straight," Karim was saying and Freddy suddenly realised that Karim was addressing him. "Blackmail is when goods are offered in an 'or else' situation, Mr Gaither didn't threaten Mr Zang he simply encouraged him so I think it would be good of you to revise your basic law Mr Wishman."

Ignore it. Blah, blah, blah. Freddy vaguely heard Karim. Quinn was only encouraging Duck. He didn't know the outcome –whatever. Freddy was more concerned about the next part if the case. In just under an hour the jury would come to their decision on live television and he had to get Caine...he had to.

"Mr Sam Temple, the jury has come to its decision regarding your involvement in the Mineshaft Incident during your time in the Fallout Alley Youth Zone," the judge spoke firmly and Pablo Zaragoza was nervous. He'd been elected as jury spokes person by the others. He didn't even want to be on the jury. He would have rather sat at home and watched the whole thing from the comfort of his sofa.

The decision hadn't been easy. Sam Temple was on trial for several charges but the Mineshaft Incident was the most serious. If the jury found him guilty he'd be locked up for life and placed in a special mental care unit. He seemed like a nice kid, he was nervous and tried to keep clam. Pablo didn't think he was guilty but others did. The bank manager did. He figured that anyone who was prepared to toss another kid to an evil being was evil himself.

There were twelve people on the jury and a real mix of characters.

Pablo himself was a chef in his Spanish cafe, and there was the bank manager. Three women who all had various secretary like jobs. A history student from London, an ex-soldier who was now in his sixties, a vet and a mechanic, a photographer and a science teacher and finally Patricia Young a lifeguard who had distracted Pablo a lot during the trials.

At first there was a split amongst them. Pablo, Patricia, the solider and the three women believed he was innocent or at least as innocent as he could get. But then the women changed their minds and it was 9-3. Nobody wanted a hung jury and having to do the trial would be a blow for everyone. For Sam, for the barristers, for the jury, for the TV, for the world.

But then Patricia changed her mind and she wouldn't budge.

"The jury has decided," Pablo couldn't look at Sam Temple who looked ill and scared. "Sam Temple is found guilty!"

The room burst into noise, some people shouting 'here, here!' others booing and hissing. Pablo sat down and hung his head. Poor kid. He thought. Like he hasn't already been through enough. Sam went white and his eyes screamed with terror.

"Mr Temple the jury has found you guilty for the assisted murder of Duck Zang, your sentence is lifetime imprisonment but due to the exceptional conditions that you were in during your time in the FAYZ, it has been reduced to ten years." The judge spoke to Sam Temple before ordering the guards to take him away.

Across the room Freddy Wishman winked at Karim Smith.


	3. Chapter 3

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 3

Karim couldn't believe it, not Sam Temple no he was innocent! Freddy had manipulated that jury and now Sam had to pay the price. He turned the corner of the long corridor he was storming down and spotted Freddy talking to a reporter whilst on his way back to the courtroom.

"Hey! Fredrick! Get over here!" he yelled down the corridor. Freddy glared at him before shaking hands with the reporter and heading over to Karim. He had such a swagger in his step Karim was tempted to deck him one and run, but he restrained himself.

"Yes my dear friend?"

"How can you live knowing what has happened to Sam Temple?" Karim demanded hotly. Freddy shrugged,

"It was the jury's decision not mine," he replied

"He was innocent!"

"Oh really?" Freddy asked his cool blue eyes flashing angrily "Did he 'throw' that Duck kid to his death?"

"Yes but there's no law that says you can't throw a kid!" Karim yelled feeling stupid.

"No of course not but he wasn't being trialled for throwing was he? We all knew he threw the kid! What the jury had to decide was whether or not he was responsible for the death of Duck Zang! And at the end of the day Karim, he was!"

"It's not murder!" Karim retaliated "Duck asked him to do it!"

"Fine," Freddy said "Is assisted suicide legal? Nu-uh, so if you want to challenge the court and have a re-trial then fine go for it, but whatever you do I am always going to have this boy locked up, murder, assisted suicide, manslaughter you name it! Sam Temple should be locked up and Caine Soren will be too."

Caine sat in his cell. He would be returning to the courtroom in a few hours for the jury's verdict. Admittedly he was a little scared. But he was confident the jury would be on his side. As he was sitting and thinking, the doors at the far end of the block flew open and three huge security guards dragged a limp and sobbing boy into the room. Caine stood up and peered through the bars of his cage-it was Sam! Sam was back from the courtroom, Caine felt his heart drop, if Sam was back then Sam was guilty. The guards dragged Sam past Caine's cell and Caine looked Sam in the eye, they were scared and empty. Caine heard the cell doors open to his right and Sam was tossed into the cell. The guards laughed and left the block slamming the doors behind them.

"Sam?" Caine asked pressing his ear against the wall. "Sam what...what happened?" He knew the answer but he had to hear it from Sam in case...well, in case...

"Leave the kid alone you dirty little creep!" The rapist with one eye yelled from across the room. Caine glared at him and raised a hand threateningly,

"Shut up or I'll make you shut up," he yelled back. Seeing his raised hand the guy crouched and turned away.

"Sam talk to me, I need to know what happened." Caine urged Sam. There was a long silence and then in a small, weak voice Sam answered.

"Don't worry Caine, you're cell won't get cold."

Freddy adjusted his tie as the cameras started rolling for day two of the FAYZ Trials. He was wearing his new grey Armani suit ready for his glorious celebration when Caine Soren would be locked up for good. The other side of the room, Karim sat looking nervous as he read some of his notes. Nerves, that was a bad sign for him, Freddy chuckled and wondered why Karim even bothered-after all he was never going to win- with the boys.

The judge entered and there was a pause as the cameras settled into position. The audience hushed as Caine Soren was escorted into the room. The boy was standing tall, his dark hair looked vibrant and his skin was practically glowing, not how most murder suspects tended to look when on trial. Freddy watched the boy with interest hoping to spot a glimmer of fear in his eyes but they were unreadable.

"Mr Soren, the jury are about to reveal their decision, do you have anything else you would like to tell the court?" the judge

"No your Honour," Caine replied smoothly. There was a murmur in the room and Freddy shook his head, that was the judge's way of saying

"Own up now!"

But Caine Soren had nothing to say.

Standing in front of the whole courtroom and effectively, the whole world Caine felt uneasy. Usually he basked in glory when he was in front of a crowd but today he felt sick. This was only the first of his trials and Sam had already been sent down...

Down where the jury sat a young guy who looked about twenty stood up. He had jet black curly hair and dark, tanned skin. He looked Spanish or Mexican, he looked a bit like how Caine imagined Edilio would grow up to look like. He looked nervous and cleared his throat before he spoke, Caine held his breath and waited. Waited for his fate.

"The jury has discussed," the man said "and we have come to a conclusion..."

The whole room fell silent.

Freddy sat on the edge of his seat.

Karim stared at his notes not reading, just staring.

Caine shut his eyes.

"The jury was unable to come to an agreement and would like to call for a re-trial."

Caine snapped his eyes open .

Karim sighed heavily.

Freddy nearly fell off his seat.

Caine looked at the judge who was quickly reading some documents in front of him.

"Approved," he said "Take him away, the re-trial will be held tomorrow and if the jury should be hung again then a new jury will be placed on the trial,"

Was this good or bad? Caine wasn't sure. He was going back to jail but for one night only. But there was no guarantee that it would be his last night either.

"Objection!" cried Freddy Wishman from across the room "Your Honour! Please!"

The judge raised his hand to silence Freddy.

"Save your arguments for tomorrow Mister Wishman,"

Freddy glowered and shot Caine a killer look.

Caine smiled back.

Sam sat on the cold, hard floor of his cell. Forget the bed he was sleeping on the floor. His mind was numb and blank, he'd barely noticed the guards take Caine away that morning. The one eyed rapist had been taunting him all day-daring him to use his powers. But of course, he didn't.

It was dark when the doors flew open. Two guards were accompanying Caine to his cell. Well, Caine didn't really need the guards, he was strutting over to his cell willingly. Sam heard one of the guards lock Caine's cell and leave.

"Back Caine? I thought so," Sam said almost smiling.

"Sure, 'for one night only!'" Caine was laughing.

"What...what do you mean?" Sam asked

"Well Sammy boy, the jury just couldn't decide if I was innocent or not, so I've got to do it all over again tomorrow!" Caine said mockingly "Life is tough huh?"

Sam ignored him and tried to fight the angry tears that were daring to fill his eyes. How the hell did Caine get free and he wind up in the cell?

"Oh by the way how's the food here Sam?"

Freddy was still fuming. It was seven thirty and he was still in the courtrooms waiting to see the outcome of Quinn Gaither's trial-not that he really cared-it was Caine Soren who was bugging him. Brat. What was wrong with the jury? He needed to get home and revise his notes for the re-trial. Quinn Gaither was nothing but an afterthought. Still, seeing that goofy, hat wearing kid get sent down would maybe cheer him up for a while.

He strolled to his seat, avoiding Karim so he wouldn't have to hear him gloat.

"Order, order!" the judge called. An eerie silence fell as if everyone was expecting a similar outcome as Caine's.

"Mr Quinn Gaither how do you plead?"

"N..not guilty." The kid was shaking. Poor baby.

"Speaker of the jury, do you find Mr Quinn Gaither guilty of blackmail?"

Get it over and done with, Freddy thought.

"The jury finds Mr Quinn Gaither, not guilty!"

Crap, Freddy thought.

Outside in the fresh air Quinn crumpled to his knees. Free, he was free! He felt sick. He should be celebrating but Sam was still inside and he was walking free. It just didn't seem right. Karim, his lawyer, came and stood next to him.

"You okay?" he smiled

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay," Quinn mumbled, he was too numb to speak properly

"I know how you must be feeling," Karim said still smiling "It's a shock but you'll soon be out celebrating!"

"I'm up for more trials," Quinn reminded him

"Well yes, but this was the big one," Karim agreed, he patted Quinn on the shoulder "Hey brighten up kid, go out there and enjoy your freedom"

Quinn snapped

"How can I enjoy myself when Caine Soren walks free and my best friend is locked up in jail? You're a useless lawyer Karim, sure, I get to walk free but Sam is guilty?! It's a joke, the whole thing is a joke and you're a joke" and he got up off the steps of the court and left Karim alone.

Freddy was angry. Quinn was supposed to be an easy case. Was he losing his touch? The whole of the world's press had just witnessed his epic fail live and Karim was the hero. In frustration he downed his whole whiskey in one, much to his regret when it burnt his throat and caused him to gag. He sat down at his desk and inspected his papers. There were still plenty of other cases for him to deal with and with the re-trial tomorrow he was sure Caine Soren would go down. And if the jury were blind enough to find him innocent then he would make sure Caine would be guilty in all the other trials;

The Uranium Spillage: Guilty

The Thanksgiving Massacre: Guilty

The Great Bug Invasion: Sooo Guilty

That kid was as guilty as sin and Freddy knew it. Karim was a fool to back the kid. He glanced at his calendar, the Thanksgiving Massacre trial would be starting in two days time and he hadn't looked at any of his notes...

Despite his success with Quinn, Karim felt deflated. Caine's re-trial would be starting any minute and he was nervous. He was nervous because he'd just seen Freddy strutting around in front of the cameras with an air of someone who knows what they're doing. It annoyed him how cocky Freddy could be in front of the cameras. This was a kid's life they were playing with not some petty criminal, although at the back of his head Karim still didn't know just how innocent Caine really was. Not after talking to the other kids and reading the statements. Control freak, power hungry, selfish, heartless, these were all words that had frequently described Caine Soren. But so much had happened during the FAYZ, and Karim knew that Sam Temple wasn't the saint that many kids made him out to be. If only Freddy didn't have it in for Caine so bad. What was his problem with Caine?

"Mr Smith?" called one of the ushers, breaking Karim's train of thought "The court is ready for you now"

Karim sighed and adjusted his tie, this re-trial had better be worth it.

Caine had listened emotionlessly to the opening speeches of both barristers. He didn't want the jury to be influenced by his own emotions. As usual that Freddy guy had ripped into him, calling him heartless and cold and Karim had defended him saying he was as guilty as Quinn Gaither – and he'd walked free. Finally it came to the questioning again. Caine was prepared, he'd been up all night preparing for questions. Freddy Wishman was going to ask him the worst questions ever and he needed to overcome them.

"Well, Mr Soren we've been here before," Freddy had said charmingly making Caine sneer "Tell me, why should a manipulative little murderer like you walk free?"

"I should walk free because I'm not a murderer," Caine replied calmly "Nor am I manipulative," he lied "Or little," he added as an afterthought.

"Ok so mister Zang asks you to throw him to his death and you agree to do so, are saying that doesn't make you a murderer?"

"We've been through this," Caine replied wearily "He asked me to do it,"

"And if I asked you to play in traffic would you do so?" Freddy asked folding his arms over his Armani suit.

"Your Honour," Karim yelled standing up "That is an inappropriate question!" but the judge shook his head and Karim was obliged to sit back down. Caine thought for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that would be as believable as possible.

"The thing is, if you told me to play in traffic or jump off a cliff or whatever, I would know what the consequences would be-I'd be dead." Caine said smoothly with a menacing glint in his eye "The difference is, when Duck asked me and Sam to throw him to the Darkness, we didn't know what would happen."

"Oh don't give me that crap you good for nothing little-!"

"MR WISHMAN!" the Judge shouted.

Freddy, who had raised his voice considerably looked ashamed

"I will kindly remind you that this is a courtroom and not some daytime chat show, please calm yourself and act appropriately."

"Yes your Honour, very sorry sir," Freddy mumbled. He's obviously rattled now, Caine thought, he looked over at the TV camera crew who were all looking a little apprehensive as if they expected Freddy to burst into swear words live on air.

Freddy took a long audible breath and continued ;

"Mr Soren, please, do not pretend that you had no idea how dangerous a situation you were in."

"I'm not pretending anything!" Caine replied annoyed that Freddy had recovered so quickly "Duck had a power like me, like Sam, he was a freak! I didn't know how his power worked it was our only chance!"

"You didn't think to talk things through?"

Karim interjected;

"They were surviving in a split second environment, they hardly had time for a coffee and a chat,"

"Mr Smith please," the judge said wearily.

"At the end of the day, Soren, Duck was afraid and you had no right to end his life like that, you are a murderer!"

"Murderer no," Caine replied "Manslaughter? Maybe."

There was a deathly silence around the courtroom. Freddy stared up at Caine and even Karim looked worried. Caine instantly regretted that remark, but thankfully, it was time for lunch.


	4. Chapter 4

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 4

The jury were ready with their result and the whole room was on pins. Freddy watched as the speaker of the jury stood and declared:

"The jury find Caine Soren not guilty."

Freddy swore.

"This is wonderful news Caine," Karim said as Caine strutted out of the courtroom. "Wonderful news," Caine grinned. "Freddy messed that one up" Karim laughed. Suddenly Caine turned on him, "So if Freddy hadn't of messed up where would I be?" he asked angrily "Back in my cell? You're my lawyer, I rely on you not on how badly Freddy does in court, I've still got loads of trials to go and I don't want to be getting away by the skin of my teeth again!" Karim faltered and nodded.

"Right Caine, that's true, next time I'll-"

"Do better." Caine said finishing his sentence with a smirk

Karim was beginning to like that kid less and less by the second.

Sam waited until Karim arrived. He was in the prison's meeting room surrounded with kidnappers, rapists and murderers all sitting in their orange prison suits waiting to talk to their own lawyer, or wife, or best friend or whatever. Sam was waiting for Karim, waiting for Karim and an explanation. He was angry, so angry that Caine should walk free and he be guilty, how could Karim let that happen?

Eventually Sam saw a police officer show Karim over to where he was sitting. Karim was dressed in a grey suit that looked sharp and expensive, usually he dressed modestly but Sam noticed the designer label on the lapel.

"Nice suit." He said sullenly sounding, unfortunately, like Caine. Karim blushed and smiled awkwardly and Sam guessed that the suit was bought with the money he'd earned from Caine and Quinn.

"Look Sam, we're going to appeal so there's no need to worry," Karim said taking a seat opposite Sam.

"Caine is innocent and I'm guilty!" Sam yelled "How does that work out Karim? And 'no need to worry!' I've not got much else to do sat alone in a cell all day!" Karim flinched as Sam let loose "And don't even get me started on my next case! The Thanksgiving Massacre!" Sam put his head on the desk and pulled at his hair which had been cropped short by the prison nurse.

"Sam the Massacre is the least of your worries," Karim said seriously "If you're found guilty then the worst you'll get is a fine, you were defending Perdido Beach that night – Caine's the one who needs to worry,"

"Well then why don't you go help precious Caine!" Sam yelled slamming his fists onto the table and jumping to his feet "Don't worry about me it's not as if I cemented peoples' hands or anything! It's not like I ever tried to help or take control or find justice when we were trapped under that dome! Nah, Caine's the one who has it tough, poor Caine!" The police officer on guard grabbed Sam and led him back to his cell leaving Karim sitting with the empty chair opposite him.

Lana lay awake in her hotel room. She couldn't sleep, not knowing that tomorrow she would be on trial for the Thanksgiving Massacre. She was pretty confident she'd be cleared though, after all, when she healed Drake she didn't know he'd spawn a mutant arm did she? Besides had she not helped him she'd probably be on trial for that instead.

Yet she still felt nervous, earlier that day she'd learned that Sam had been found guilty in the Mineshaft Incident and Caine –Caine Soren – was innocent. At first she thought it was a misprint in the newspaper but she'd seen the news bulletin on TV moments later. She was lucky that she hadn't been called for the Mineshaft Incident, it was kind of her fault it happened, but since she wasn't in the right state of mind during the incident she'd been cleared, which was cool. She'd shot Edilio that night so she was glad not to have to relive that night.

Still, she was nervous. Very nervous.

Caine chewed at his thumb. He was trying to memorise his speech for tomorrow. How was he going to convince the jury that his idea to lead the coyotes to Perdido Beach was an accident? Maybe he could claim that someone like Penny had been the one with the bright idea! Maybe not since absolutely nobody would believe him. Speaking of Penny he had her murder trial too, self defence would be his excuse there though so no worries.

"Relax you'll be fine," Diana said. Caine sighed and locked the door of Hotel Victoria room number 441. The hotel was where all those cleared or facing trial were forced to stay – so a prison with room service, Caine thought. Still, it was better than poor old Sammy huh?

"Easy for you to say," he muttered back at her but then he remembered that Diana wasn't even in the same room, she wasn't even in the same hotel. No Diana was in the Psychiatric Hospital across state. Since the fall of the FAYZ Diana had been under constant watch, the final battle had mentally scarred her much to Caine's despair.

He'd been on the brink of joining her, and Caine knew as he climbed beneath the covers of his king size bed that if he was found guilty and sent to the claustrophobic, lonely, dark hole of a prison cell he'd have to reserve himself a bed there...

Karim sighed and pulled off his reading glasses to rub the sleep from his eyes. He was having a tough time sleeping and had decided to read over his case notes for the Thanksgiving Massacre. It was such a tough case to get his head around especially when he was expected to defend not just one FAYZ kid but all of those accused of crimes.

Sam Temple: Attacked Coates kids and ordered people to shoot guns – Sam would be fine.

Caine Soren: Attacked the town and ordered the psychopath Drake Merwin to allow the mutant coyotes to attack the day care centre – tricky, Caine might not get away with this one.

Lana Arwen Lazar: Responsible for creating that Drake's freakish tentacle arm – well, that could swing either way

Quinn Gaither: This was a difficult case – the boy could have stopped Drake and the coyotes but backed down – Freddy would call him a coward...

Karim sighed again: one out of four would be his most probable outcome and even Sam Temple wasn't immune from the wrath of the jury.

"How are you feeling this morning Diana?"

Diana stared darkly at her psychiatrist. Dr Morgan a fifty something, overweight loser who was trying to get into her head. He was sitting in the leather chair opposite her with his clipboard balanced on his lap and pen stuffed between his podgy little fingers. He was a typical idiot man who liked to think that he could understand her, that he could relate to her – hah! Please, this was the sort of guy who'd go home and listen to classical music and watch boring political dramas with his wife – kind of an Astrid person really.

"Still having nightmares?" he asked her giving her a smile which frankly creeped Diana out.

"Actually I think I'm having one right now." She replied dryly.

"Really!?" Dr Morgan asked leaning forward in his chair with anticipation.

"No."

"Miss Ladris, please, if you would simply cooperate with me then perhaps we will permit you to give evidence in court, but until we can be sure that you are stable enough to be let out you will simply have to stay here."

"You know if Caine knew how you guys were treating me he'd kill you with his bare hands," Diana smirked watching Dr Morgan's face drain of its colour "Literally." She added.

Freddy was flirting with the cashier at the coffee house outside the court. She'd recognised him from TV and had given him a free latte. She was cute too – if a little young. This female attention put Freddy in a very good mood and he couldn't wait to get into the court room and rip Sam Temple to pieces.

His confidence was inspiring since even he knew that Sam Temple was unlikely to be convicted of anything serious – if anything it sounded like the kid was a hero, defending the town from an army of – what was it again? Oh yeah, talking coyotes. Freddy chuckled to himself as he waved goodbye to the cashier and entered the court. Inside he spotted Karim. He looked tired, he had big bags under his eyes and Freddy noticed that Karim had forgotten to touch up his grey roots. Freddy shook his head with delight, the camera would pick those greys up real bad.

"Good luck Karim!" he called as he entered the main court room "You're gonna need it pal!" Karim didn't respond and Freddy was confident that this was going to be a good day.

"Phone call for you Mister Soren."

Caine was eating breakfast in the hotel's dining room. Eggs Benedict and fresh orange juice – smooth of course, Caine didn't like the pulp. The hotel receptionist was holding out a cordless phone and looked nervous to be standing so close to him.

"Who is it?" Caine asked pouring himself more juice.

"It's Diana Ladris."

Caine poured the juice over his shirt and jumped up out of his seat, snatching the phone from the receptionist.

"Diana? Is it really you?"

"No Caine. It's the fake Diana, in fact the real Diana no longer exists and is simply a fragment of your imagination."

Caine breathed a sigh of relief, it was Diana – that sarcasm was unmatchable.

"How are you?" he breathed.

"Wonderful Caine! I absolutely love it here being analysed 24/7 like some lab rat – in fact you should come along too, we'd have a whale of a time." Diana sounded more irritated than ever and Caine decided to cut to the chase.

"Sorry, I guess it must be hard on you." Diana snorted and Caine practically heard her eyes rolling. "What is it you want Diana?"

"To warn you," she replied her tone serious "they're not letting me out for the Thanksgiving trial so that false alibi I was going to give you? Yeah – not going to happen."

Caine felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. No Diana to testify was bad, real bad. Now he'd have to rely on Karim and he was about as useful as Jack without a computer. He was on his own.

"Caine?" Diana's voice rang loudly from the phone in his hand "Listen to me Caine, I will get out of here soon and I will help you." She paused and Caine wished that she was with him in person not at the other end of the line. "Caine? You still there?"

"I love you Diana." He whispered.

"Yeah, I love you too Caine."

And the line went dead.


	5. Chapter 5

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 5

"Members of the jury, standing before us today is Mr Sam Temple a survivor of the so-called FAYZ, an ordinary, teenage boy from California – a boy who, on the night of the Thanksgiving Massacre instructed his fellow people not one of them older than fourteen years old, to arm themselves with weapons and prepare themselves to fight off other students from the nearby Coates Academy. This is a boy who was prepared to risk the lives of the youngest children of the FAYZ by leaving them trapped in a day care centre as a pack of –mutant- coyotes, yes, coyotes prepared to attack and feed off of them. This is a boy who that very night engaged in a brutal and savage fight with his brother using their mutant powers, risking the lives of all those around him and ladies and gentlemen, unless this boy is found guilty of putting these children's lives at risk he will leave this court room without taking any responsibility for his actions – and we don't want that do we?"

Sam watched and listened as Freddy delivered his well rehearsed speech with an almost uncontrollable anger. What did this guy know about the FAYZ? What did he know about stepping up when everyone depended on you? What did he know about life or death situations? This guy was a joke, but Sam wasn't going to say that, not in front of a jury, he didn't want to sound obnoxious like Caine.

"So Mr Temple, do you deny any wrong doing?"

"You don't understand – I didn't have time to consider the consequences or come up with a safer plan, Caine was planning to take over Perdido Beach and I had to stop him!" Sam replied feeling the heat rise to his neck.

"Well then perhaps you'd care to tell the jury exactly what happened that fateful night." Freddy said with a smug, confident grin. Sam wished he could send Freddy to the FAYZ and make him understand the fear and pain he'd been through.

"Basically, we knew that Caine and the kids were Coates were coming to Perdido Beach – Caine wanted to take over and become some sort of leader-"

"And you didn't like that, did you Mr Temple? Because you were in charge of Perdido Beach." Freddy interrupted.

"No!" Sam snapped "I knew I had to stop Caine, he was powerful and ruthless and he knew that Drake was leading the coyotes to the day care – I was the only person who was strong enough to stop him," Sam noticed a few members of the jury shoot him disbelieving looks "what was I supposed to do?" he demanded angrily.

"Mr Temple, I don't doubt your desire to protect your fellow inhabitants of Perdido Beach, in fact you were quite thorough in protecting Miss Astrid Ellison and the late Peter Ellison, in fact you made sure they were as far from the – shall we say: action – as possible by instructing them to hide up in the church tower. Why Mr Temple, would you tell those two individuals to find safety and nobody else?" Freddy was grinning now, barely able to contain his glee. Sam knew where this was going: "Could it possibly be because Astrid Ellison was your _girlfriend?_" There was a collective gasp from the members of the jury and from the people in the gallery. Sam felt his cheeks redden, trust Freddy to bring his relationship with Astrid up.

"Mr Temple it seems to me that you wanted to play the hero that night and earn the adoration of Miss Ellison and that the safety of everyone else was unimportant to you – am I correct?"

"No!" Sam yelled angrily, Freddy smirked in response and in the corner of his eye Sam noticed Karim signalling him to calm down.

"I suppose it worked," Freddy continued casually "in the end you and Miss Ellison were sleeping together were you not?"

"Objection!" Karim shouted but Freddy had already done the damage, Sam could see the members of the jury tutting and shaking their heads.

"No further questions," Freddy grinned.

Diana sat in the canteen staring at the bowl of soup in front of her. She hadn't touched it. Weird how back in the FAYZ she would have literally killed for a bowl of soup and yet now she couldn't even pick up her spoon. She was too worried about Caine; in about two hours time he would be standing trial again and now she was unable to do anything to help him.

Stupid doctors. Of course she was mentally unstable – she'd just come out of the FAYZ – you didn't need a PhD to work that out.

"What's the matter Princess?" Diana looked away from the soup into the cold eyes of Erica, one of the 'inmates' she was freaky and kind of reminded Diana of Penny. She was overweight and pasty and insisted on calling Diana 'Princess' after Princess Diana.

"Let's hope you don't meet the same grizzly end as she did." Erica had said the day they met for the first time.

"Will you just leave me alone?" Diana growled. Erica ignored her and dipped her finger in Diana's soup, circling it around and around.

"So not allowed to go help your boyfriend huh?" she said ignoring Diana's requests for privacy. "Sucks to be you Princess, my boyfriend shot my step-dad."

"Nice to hear, sounds like a dream boyfriend." Diana muttered darkly.

"Hey!" In a flash Erica threw the bowl of soup across the canteen sending it smashing against a wall. "He deserved it okay! Mark my boyfriend was called, Mark shot him in the eye whilst he slept – it was so cool! But don't you dare speak badly about Mark, Princess." Diana held her hands up in surrender and Erica settled down.

"So tell me about your boyfriend what's his name Caine or Sam? They're both in the papers."

"His name is Caine and he's a sociopath." Diana replied coolly. Erica blinked and obviously didn't understand. "Ok he's killed people, manipulated people, tortured people and proclaimed himself King – oh yeah and he got me pregnant with a demon baby."

"Were you his Queen, Diana?" Erica asked unfazed by everything Diana had just said. "Or just his Princess – Princess Diana?!" she began to double over in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Diana stared at her and secretly began to miss Penny.

Now it was Karim's turn. He adjusted his tie slightly as he stood up to ask Sam his own questions and felt suddenly very warm. This was obviously down to Freddy. All those stupid questions about Astrid Ellison, no wonder the jury were looking so sceptically at Sam.

"Alright Sam," he said clearing his throat slightly "remind us of the exact danger you and the rest of Perdido Beach faced that night."

Sam seemed to visibly relax. He started speaking confidently about how the coyotes weren't normal animals but freakish mutants that could talk and make bargains. He spoke about how Caine posed a real threat to the town and about how he had cemented the hands of those with powers. He spoke about the psychopath Drake and his tentacle whip hand, and all the while Sam gained confidence and the jury looked less suspicious of him and more in awe. Karim noticed that Freddy had sunk in his chair a little and kept twirling his pen around his fingers: a sign of nerves.

"...so as you can imagine, I really had no control over the situation." Sam concluded and he looked over at Karim for some sort of assurance.

"Thank you Mr Temple, and just to clarify; you did provide extra security for Miss Ellison and her brother didn't you?" Sam looked a little uncomfortable but nodded and Karim continued before Sam could say anything. "But why did you do this?" it was a rhetorical question but Sam looked close to answering so Karim decided to cut his long pause short. "You did this because Peter Ellison was autistic: correct?" Sam nodded. "And Miss Ellison believed that her younger brother also possessed some sort of power – is that right?" Again Sam nodded his head. "So you were simply protecting a young boy and his sister because he could have been a very important asset to the children in the FAYZ. Correct?"

"Correct." Sam said with a smile.

"I'm sorry your Honour but are we really supposed to sit here and listen to this garbage?" Karim shot an angry look over at Freddy who had risen from his seat.

"Do you have a problem with the questioning Mister Wishman?" the judge asked.

"This boy was only protecting Astrid Ellison and her brother because she was his girlfriend – I thought we had established that! You can't just ignore that fact." He pointed accusingly at Karim.

"I think we've heard enough from you now Mister Wishman." The judge said sternly but to Karim's dismay, Freddy pushed onward.

"Your Honour, this boy was sleeping with Miss Ellison – he was 15 years old for heaven's sake!" Freddy practically shouted.

"_MISTER WISHMAN!" _shouted the judge and Freddy visibly bit his tongue. But Karim had spotted a valuable flaw in Freddy's outrage.

"Actually your Honour," Karim said with a smile at Freddy who frowned in puzzlement "What Mr Wishman just said is true, Sam Temple and Astrid Ellison did – er, shall we say; 'consummate' their relationship when Mr Temple was fifteen and underage, but..." and he paused à la Freddy. "at the time of the Thanksgiving Massacre we all know that Mister Temple was in fact _fourteen _ years old." Karim couldn't help but grin as he spotted Freddy swear under his breath and roll his eyes

"Neither Mr Temple or Miss Ellison was committed to each other at this point in time- therefore what Mr Wishman just brought to the attention of the jury is irrelevant and ought to be discredited." He looked at the judge waiting for his response. The judge seemed to contemplate things for a moment then nodded and turned to the jury.

"Mister Smith is correct – please discount everything Mister Wishman just said." Karim beamed up at Sam who returned his smile and Freddy cursed loudly and threw himself back into his chair.

Caine had been watching Sam's trial broadcast live on TV. Karim looked strong today but that useless lawyer was about as reliable as Drake was sane. Freddy on the other hand...

He watched as the jury retired to make their decision and waited impatiently for their result. He watched the live interviews with members of the public outside the court and flicked between channels alternating between live scenes at the courtroom and highlights of the trial.

Caine noticed that Sam looked nervous at first but had regained confidence. If the jury cleared his name then there was a better chance that he'd be found innocent at the Mineshaft Incident re-trial. Caine knew how important it was to remain favourable with the public and the juries. But how was he going to persuade people that his involvement in the Massacre was – well, how was he going to get away with it?

He wished he could speak to Diana.

As soon as he was out of the courtroom Freddy flipped out. He pushed past the TV cameras and hurried outside where he could think straight. Damn! Everything he'd learnt about Sam Temple and his relationship with the Ellison girl had been wasted. All that hard work was down the drain. He sighed, it was probably his own fault. If he'd just played it cool like he usually did then maybe the judge wouldn't have been so harsh. Now he was dreading going back into the courtroom, he knew that Karim would be smirking at him and gloating. Freddy was so stressed out that he hadn't even checked his papers to see who was in next for questioning. Not Caine Soren. His trial would take place in the evening and much to Freddy's delight his little girlfriend Diana was locked up in a mental house and couldn't give evidence. Anxious to get back in the swing of things Freddy calmly went back inside and checked the timetable. His heart skipped a beat when he read the next name on the list: Astrid Ellison. Maybe his efforts weren't wasted after all.

Quinn rubbed his sweaty hands together. He'd been following Sam's trial online and things looked tough. His own Thanksgiving Massacre trial was later in the afternoon. He was being trialled for 'Omission of duty' or whatever fancy term they were calling his inability to shoot Drake down and save the kids in the Day Care.

"Seriously?" he'd asked Karim beforehand "they want to trial me because I _didn't _kill someone?!" but Karim had smiled and tried to put him at ease. However Quinn couldn't quell the churning sensation in his stomach. How bad would it sound when he admitted that he was too afraid to kill Drake? Drake Merwin. Drake Whiphand Merwin!

Quinn took a long, deep breath to steady himself. There was no point in stressing now, he'd be in court within a few hours. He left his laptop on the desk in his comfortable hotel room and went to the mirror to adjust his tie. He hated wearing suits and as he looped his purple tie around his collar he couldn't help but see it as a noose.

Astrid held the small, black leather bound Bible in her right hand. Its cover blank apart from a small, golden cross in the middle. Strange how since coming out of the FAYZ she hadn't touched this once treasured book even one time. She remembered how she used to have a copy of her own in her bedside drawer that she would read every night just before hitting the lamp and going to sleep. She remembered her favourite psalms and passages and how as she'd gotten older she'd made comparisons between the stories in the gospels that repeated and how she'd come to the conclusion that she liked Luke's Gospel the best.

"I swear by the Bible that that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She said in a loud clear voice. This had been the moment she'd feared the most because even though the words now felt empty and meaningless the whole act still struck her as serious and consecrated. It dawned on her there and then in the courtroom that after everything she had been through God still held an important place deep down in her heart.

Then suddenly it began: the blonde lawyer, Freddy Wishman stood up to question her.

Sam watched as Astrid took the book and swear that she would tell the truth. He knew that Astrid didn't really even need to swear an oath. She wasn't a liar. But Freddy was a manipulative guy and would try to get her into a tricky situation.

"So Miss Ellison, so nice of you to join us this afternoon," Freddy began smoothly "you see, you've already made quite an impression on our jury already today – but enough about you, I want to know about Sam Temple."

Astrid didn't say anything.

"Well?" Freddy prompted frowning probably wondering if this really was the girl nicknamed Astrid the Genius.

"Well what?" Astrid asked "you simply told me that you wanted to know about Sam Temple which was a statement and not a question. I'm sure you understand that I don't have to respond to a statement." Freddy gawped and Sam grinned, now Freddy was really going to meet his match. "Of course I'll respond to both questions and interrogative orders but not statements." Astrid added with a smile.

"Then tell me about Sam Temple's personality." Freddy growled opting to order rather than question. Astrid paused then spoke;

"Well Sam is rather difficult to set apart: he's a surfer who doesn't hang out with surfers. He's bright, but not a brain. As you can see and surely must recognise Mr Wishman, he is good looking, but not so girls think of him as a hottie." Astrid smirked slightly and met Sam's eye at the last part of her comment and Sam found himself awkwardly turned on. Freddy glared at Sam through narrowed eyes.

"So he's an enigma?" he asked Astrid.

"Well yes and no," Astrid replied

"Ah, so you're the enigma?" Freddy snapped icily and Astrid raised her eyebrow condescendingly.

"What I mean is: Sam isn't a mysterious person, he isn't aloof or standoffish he just doesn't belong to any clique. I suppose he's just his own person really."

"Well that was a great deal of help," Freddy said with sarcasm which annoyed Sam. "Did you notice a change in his personality once the FAYZ began?"

Astrid hesitated and Sam wondered what she was going to say. "Miss Ellison?" Freddy prompted his eyes flashing with excitement as though he was ready to rip her to shreds at any second.

"Well if I'm being brutally honest," she began

"Which you must be!" Freddy quipped nodding toward the Bible placed next to Astrid. She didn't flinch;

"If I'm honest I never really paid any attention to Sam prior to the FAYZ." She admitted. Sam smiled at how uncomfortable she looked at admitting her lack of interest in him.

"Ah! So it wasn't until the FAYZ began that you developed an infatuation for him?" Freddy asked with a wry smile.

"It was more than an infatuation Mr Wishman." Astrid replied with impatience "you must understand that my relationship with Sam is based on a lot more than eye candy and decent conversation. We were living each day as if it were our last, we had nothing! We were two people who cared deeply for each other at a time when all hope was lost."

"Well I am most touched Miss Ellison but you didn't answer my question." Freddy said with equal impatience. Sam had never seen two people display such obvious dislike for each other in a long time.

"Fine! I only began to develop emotionally charged feelings for Sam once the barrier came up."

"But what was it that – to want of a better turn of phrase – 'turned you on' Miss Ellison? After all, by your own admission Sam is bright, but not a brain and he is good looking, but not so girls think of him as a hottie." Freddy replied his confidence seeming to build as he paced the court room floor and occasionally talked directly to the cameras. "What was it about Mr Temple that got your heart racing?" Sam noticed that Astrid was looking slightly flushed.

"I suppose it must be his...his caring nature." She said weakly. A part of Sam felt highly insulted that there was nothing better about himself that had turned Astrid on but he didn't let it show, even when Freddy chuckled pompously.

"Interesting Miss Ellison," he said with a smugness to his voice "but won't you elaborate for us? What did Sam Temple do that was so caring? Offer you his last Twix? Walk you home after dark? Oh! Did he make you a little Sammy Sun with his _superpower_? Perhaps it was his powers that turned your head Miss Ellison? And not just hypothetical powers like money or status: real mutant powers! No doubt he made you feel very safe indeed!"

Astrid looked horrified,

"Are you suggesting that I was nothing but a damsel in distress who ran to the most powerful person for protection? I beg your pardon Mister Wishman but I am quite capable of taking care of myself – with or without Sam's help and powers!" she said haughtily.

"Very well Miss Ellison," Freddy said still confident "but what about your little brother? He was autistic right? And you took care of him during the FAYZ – except that on day one you didn't even know where he was and it was Sam Temple who climbed over the barbed wired fence into the Power Plant to find _your _brother, it was Sam Temple who made sure that _your _brother was unharmed by the mutant coyotes by using his powers and it was Sam Temple who essentially kept him safe from harm right until his death, the day that _you threw your autistic younger brother into the jaws of a mutant flesh eating bug!_"

Astrid stood frozen in the witness box her mouth just open a tiny bit with a single tear rolling gently down her cheek.

Diana was watching Sam's trial on the TV in the 'relaxation room.' She wasn't alone to her annoyance, three other girls whose names she didn't know were watching too. It was all a bit distracting because every time the camera panned to Sam one of the three would swoon and start hyperventilating.

"He's _sooo _handsome!" she squealed and then turned to Diana "much better looking than _your _ugly boyfriend." She smiled spitefully but Diana ignored her. She was trying to listen to what Astrid was saying. She'd already outsmarted the prosecutor with her whole 'question and statement' monologue and Diana had rolled her eyes at her modest description of Sam. But now the prosecutor was rallying out some sort of speech and Astrid looked upset.

"Look at her crying like that!" one of the other girls laughed pointing at the screen "give the girl an Oscar!"

"Would you shut up?" Diana snapped "I want to hear what's happening!" The girl, who had jet black hair sneered at Diana.

"You're just jealous that Sam's girlfriend is allowed to go to court but you can't!" she scoffed.

"Excuse me?" Diana laughed "are you saying I'm jealous of this sanctimonious bitch? You're out of your mind!" The girl rose angrily to her feet and stared icily at Diana. "What are you going to do?" Diana asked lazily "attack me and lose all your free time by getting yourself kicked out? Go ahead, be my guest."

"Take a look in the mirror Ladris," the girl growled returning to her seat "you call me mental and yet you're also a patient here." And she and the other two girls laughed cruelly at Diana's irritated expression in delight.

Astrid felt her chest tighten and her head swoon. How could this man make out she killed Petey in cold blood? Why was she being ripped to pieces? She was supposed to be defending Sam and somehow Freddy Wishman had managed to turn the whole situation into a scandalous love affair story.

Luckily for her Karim had demanded that Freddy stop the questioning and had given her a brief enough pause to wipe away her tears and clear her mind.

"Stop as much as you like," Freddy gloated "I've still got lots of questions to ask!"

"Are any of them actually relevant to the case?" Karim demanded angrily. Astrid knew he was trying to help her out of the situation but deep down she realised that what Freddy had been saying really was relevant. After all, the jury would naturally be wondering why Sam always went out of his way to protect her and Petey and why she was away from immediate danger the night of the massacre.

"Miss Ellison, are you ready to continue?" the judge asked her with an impatient tone.

"Yes your Honour." She stole a glance up at Sam and he smiled down at her.

"Alright now that the waterworks have dried up I can carry on with my questions," Freddy muttered looking at his notes with the air of a world leader checking his lunch schedule. His arrogance made Astrid's blood boil but she held her tongue and waited for his inquisition to begin. "So, we've established that you and Mr Temple have an 'exclusive' relationship, now I want to know about the events that night; Mr Temple is being trialled for knowingly endangering young children and you should know that it's a miracle he's not being charged with manslaughter-"

"How ridiculous!" Astrid shrilled "Sam had no idea that the coyotes would attack the way they did, he assumed they were under Caine's orders and that Caine was just baiting him."

"Oh really?" Freddy smirked "Well perhaps Mr Temple shouldn't be so presumptuous in future – especially when young lives are on the line." He cast a dark look up at Sam and Astrid saw the camera man pan in for a dramatic shot. This whole thing was a farce and Freddy Wishman knew it – Astrid hated him.

"Look," she sighed "Sam was trying his best to protect everyone; he made sure that the people with powers were prepared for a fight and that the young ones were with Mary Terafino!"

Freddy laughed again "Oh-ho! Poor Mary, now she is a tragic case – but surely she wasn't the most stable person to take care of pre-schoolers?"

"You've clearly done very little research Mr Wishman," Astrid said icily and Freddy looked livid in return. "Mary was wonderful with the kids, without her you'd have plenty more graves in the town plaza! Her breakdown was a result of the Gaiaphage until then she was perfectly capable of taking care of them!"

"What an alibi this Gaiaphage is turning out to be," Freddy muttered and Astrid simply smiled down at him superiorly.

"Members of the jury!" Freddy declared and Astrid sighed inwardly knowing that the questioning wouldn't last much longer from his part. "What you have heard today proves that Mr Temple was thoughtless and careless and ultimately selfish on the night of the massacre. A massacre which surely could have been prevented had he only tried harder to work in harmony with Mr Caine Soren and the children from Coates Academy. It is clear that he and Miss Ellison cared only for each other and gave no thought for anyone else that night or any other night for that matter. I can see it only fitting that this boy is to be punished and I sincerely hope that you all agree with me." With that he nodded at the judge "No more questions."

Now it was Karim's turn. He was livid with Freddy and he could tell just be the expressions on the members of the jury's faces. They were looking suspiciously up at Sam and tutting at Astrid after Freddy's desperate last speech. Standing up, he pushed his hair from his eyes and turned to Astrid.

"Miss Ellison, I think now would be an appropriate time to explain to the jury exactly why your younger brother Pete was so important to the FAYZ." He saw Astrid visibly sigh with relief and when he glanced toward Sam he too looked relieved.

"Pete had powers," Astrid explained "he was very, very powerful but he was also severely autistic. He had little to no control over his powers and was very volatile. What we did learn was that Pete played a vital role in creating the barrier that surrounded us. Sam and I knew that it was crucial to keep Pete safe because we believed him to be our only chance of survival."

Karim nodded as she continued to explain Pete's situation and he noticed Freddy looking angry in his chair. Gradually the jury looked less and less suspicious of her and much more thoughtful. By the time she was done and sounding a little emotional Karim was convinced that the jury had seen through Freddy's elaborations. Astrid stopped talking and turned to him, braced for the next question but Karim simply smiled at her, Sam, the jury, the judge and at Freddy and said;

"No more questions."


	6. Chapter 6

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 6

It was Quinn's turn now. He stood waiting nervously for the questioning to begin. He knew he should be confident, he knew that he needn't worry – Karim was a great lawyer and everything would be fine. Why then did he feel like he was about to face the firing squad? His hands were sweaty and his tie was still way too tight and felt like it was strangling him.

In walked Freddy Wishman, tall, blonde and handsome, dressed head to toe in designer threads. This guy scared the crap out of Quinn, not since Drake in the FAYZ had he been so scared of one person. Freddy had the power to decide Quinn's fate and yet had no clue what it was like to be stuck for months in a nightmare.

Moments later Karim walked in looking somewhat relaxed. Quinn had seen his good work with Sam and it looked as if that case was a sure 'not guilty.'

Finally the judge called for silence and the trial began. Freddy was to ask questions first and Quinn braced himself.

"So," Freddy began checking his notes and not even looking up at Quinn in his booth. "Mr Gaither, I'm just looking through these notes I have on you – call it your FAYZ CV if you will – and I've got to say: you didn't really do much to help out during your time in the FAYZ did you?"

"What?" Quinn blurted out feeling deeply offended "I was a fisherman! I kept people from starving!" Freddy looked unimpressed and continued to scan his notes.

"Rrrright, so caught some cod. But you didn't have any powers, you didn't join the gung-ho army movement that Mr Escobar ran, you weren't on the council, you didn't go to the lakes with your so-called best friend Sam choosing to instead stay put at the beach with Caine Soren and his cronies." He paused and looked up at Quinn with a grin "now that's not really much help is it? Now let's be honest Quinn, say you were sick one day and couldn't fish, wasn't there anybody else who could have gone out and hauled in a load that day? Were you really the only one? Did the whole survival rate of the FYAZ depend solely on you?"

"I guess not." Quinn mumbled

"I'm sorry Mr Gaither but you're going to have to speak up this is a courtroom not a library" Freddy cupped his hand to his ear mockingly.

"No it didn't." Quinn said loudly.

"Right, so we've established that you contributed next to nothing to the FAYZ," Freddy continued "why exactly? Is it simply idleness or is there a deeper, more profound reason for your lack of responsibility?"

Quinn felt hot under the collar, this guy was talking rubbish! He knew he was important to the FAYZ why was he letting this guy tell him otherwise?

"I've told you I was a fisherman, I had a lot of responsibility and people depended on me, I didn't shirk off or keep my head down I helped out!" he said desperately.

"Mr Gaither would you kindly just answer my questions?" Freddy said ignoring everything Quinn had just said. "Were you lazy or was it perhaps that you didn't like being ordered around by your best friend Sam Temple? Is that why you didn't shoot down the mutant Drake and coyotes that night and allow several kids to be injured and die? Is that why you stayed with Sam Temple's rival and brother; Caine Soren when the rest of Perdido Beach packed up and went to the lakes with Sam? Tell us Quinn we're all dying to know!"

Edilio and Lana sat on the couch in Lana's hotel room watching the TV screen. They were watching the trials of course. Unlike Sam, Caine, Diana and others neither of them were up for trial, which they both admitted was a little harsh since they'd both done a lot of bad things during the FAYZ. Lana had, in the eyes of the public and the court, done more good than bad by healing so many kids and Edilio as a sort of army general had been let off too because he'd protected people and only fought to defend. They were both in town to give evidence at several different cases and were staying in the same hotel.

"Poor Quinn," Edilio muttered whilst cracking open a coke. "That lawyer is harsh."

"Plus he has no idea how much Quinn actually did to help us out," Lana added eyes glued to the screen "If anything we've done worse than he ever has."

"Right" Edilio agreed.

"I mean I shot you." Lana said with a wry grin and Edilio fidgeted awkwardly.

"Yeah, but that was, you know...different."

Lana snorted and rolled her eyes "Oh sure: I'm innocent your Honour there was this thing called the Gaiaphage controlling me, it made me do it!" They laughed it was weird to be making jokes about the Gaiaphage but they now knew that they were at last free from it.

"I bet that's what Caine will say." Edilio said once the laughter had subsided. Lana's face went dark just like in the old days.

"Yeah well, nobody will believe him."

I hope. Edilio mentally added.

"You don't understand!" Quinn protested "I didn't shoot because I couldn't it was too hard for me! I barely knew how to hold a gun! What if I missed?"

"We're not here to speculate Mr Gaither," Freddy said wearily, this trial was boring. Why couldn't they just charge the spineless kid already? "you allowed the coyote pack led by Drake Merwin to attack the day care centre when you were armed and in a superior position! Do you think that we're all just supposed to accept and forgive that?"

Quinn didn't answer and Freddy knew he'd cracked him. A quick glance at the jury and he could see that they too were convinced.

"Look Quinn, because of you the day care centre was attacked. Because of you, kids died. Because of you and your lack of responsibility Drake Merwin was free to roam the FAYZ and continue with his spree of merciless torturing. Quinn people died because of you."

The boy looked ill, like he'd just seen a dead body or something, he tugged at his collar.

"Quinn your lack of responsibility cost lives, don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Freddy asked the pale boy.

"I-"

Quinn Gaither collapsed.

"Did you see that?!" Edilio leapt off of the sofa and hit the rewind button. Poor Quinn had passed out live on TV.

"Geez, sure he looked pale but I didn't expect that!" Lana said dryly without even moving from her place on the couch. She watched as Edilio rewound then played then rewound and then played Quinn's epic fall over and over. "Why don't you put it back to live TV so we can see what's happened to him?"

Edilio clicked play and the live footage was of several police officers crowding around the box where Quinn had been standing, Karim Smith, Quinn's lawyer was there too and in the corner of the screen the judge was having what looked like some pretty harsh words with Freddy Wishman.

"What a jerk!" Edilio said as the camera panned over to Freddy and the judge "I mean telling Quinn he was responsible for killing people! It's out of line!"

Lana sighed and helped herself to one of the nearby sodas

"C'est la vie, Edilio," she said "That Wishman guy is only doing his job, I mean Quinn should have been prepared for something like this."

"The guy practically accused him of murder!" Edilio looked really angry now and Lana decided it was best not to push the debate any further. One thing was certain though, she was glad she wasn't on trial.

Caine was waiting in the courtroom foyer with an armed guard when the ambulance pulled up outside. At first he'd thought nothing of it and carried on reading through the case notes that Karim had written up for him, but then a group of paramedics rushed inside and were led into the courtroom. The next minute they were exiting the room carrying a stretcher that held a conscious but very pale and shaky Quinn. They were followed by the judge, Karim, Freddy Wishman and a few policemen – and about a dozen TV cameramen.

"Hey what's happening?" Caine asked Karim as Quinn was loaded into the ambulance.

"He collapsed midway through his trial," Karim replied wearily "It was all Freddy's fault – he seemed to think it was a murder trial. He was ruthless, you're going to need to have your wits about you if you want to stand a chance at getting off lightly."

Caine narrowed his eyes at Karim and leaned closer to his ear.

"I'm paying you to keep your wits about you so don't lecture me!" he hissed and Karim raised his hands in surrender.

"Sure, sure, you're right." He said but Caine wasn't convinced – he needed someone he could depend on in court and without Diana the only person who could help him out was this guy. Brilliant.

One of the secretaries came over to the two of them with a schedule in hand.

"Due to the unforeseen circumstances we've pushed your trial forward, we'll see you in the next hour if that's alright with you?" she was talking to Karim and was completely ignoring Caine. That annoyed him, why wasn't she checking to see if it was okay with him? He was the one on trial! Caine shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his trousers and mimicked tossing her across the hall.

"I'm sure that'll be fine," Karim replied looking at Caine suspiciously "but what about Sam Temple? I thought the jury had reached their verdict?"

"They have," the secretary replied "and they'll be giving it in a few minutes time."

For some reason there was a mask on his face. Quinn blinked and shook his head, he'd slipped in and out of consciousness several times but this time he'd come round for good. Squirming, he yanked the oxygen mask off of his face and tried to sit up.

"Hey watch it son, you don't want to get up too fast!" a bald guy in a green suit was sitting opposite him and Quinn realised he was in an ambulance.

"Wait now – what's going on?" he asked "Why am I here? I'm supposed to be on trial!" panic sunk in and he sat up way too fast making his head spin out of control. "Wow!"

"Okay, like I said take it easy!" the paramedic stood up and gently pushed Quinn back into a lying position "don't worry, you had a blackout in court and passed out, that's all but we need to get you checked up of course."

Suddenly Quinn kind of remembered standing in the box and feeling very, very woozy . It was that Freddy guy and all of his murderer talk that set him off.

"Thanks I guess," Quinn muttered to the paramedic

"Hey no worries kid!" he laughed "that's what we're here for!"

Freddy was getting himself a coffee in the court foyer. He was naturally a bit peeved after his telling off from the judge but it wasn't his fault the kid collapsed. Anyway, that didn't matter – what mattered was that he'd swayed the jury big time and that the whole thing was the headline news that evening. Besides the kid would be fine – he wasn't the first person to collapse in court and he wouldn't be the last.

Freddy poured one of the mini cartons of milk into his coffee and checked his phone for any missed calls. He was nervous and he knew it – this is what he did when he was nervous, stupid things like drink cheap, bitter coffee and check for calls he knew he didn't have, all because he was nervous. Nervous because Sam Temple's verdict was in and in a few minutes he'd be back in the courtroom in front of the world waiting to see if he or Karim had won the battle.

Well it had to be him! Sure that Astrid girl had been a pain but secretly, Freddy had enjoyed taking her on, it was a challenge plus it made for some great TV. And as for Sam himself – what a walkover! Yeah, he'd be fine – no need to be at all nervous.

"Hey Wishman!" Freddy turned around to see Karim marching over to him looking very angry.

"What's up bro?" Freddy joked pouring more milk into the coffee

"Don't goof around with me Freddy," Karim snapped "I've had enough of you and your mind games, what the hell did you think you were playing at in there? Quinn has been taken to hospital because of you! Did you think this was a murder case or something?!"

"Calm down Karim," Freddy said "Look, I'm just doing my job and if you can't handle the heat then I suggest you get out of my kitchen, friend."

"No I'm serious Freddy, you crossed the line back there – accusing him of murder!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Freddy interjected waving the wooden stirring spoon at Karim "Now I never actually accused him did I? I was simply pointing out that because of his actions – or in this case: lack of them – several kids died, now in my world that does not translate as: I accuse you of murder."

"It's bullshit and you know it!" Karim shouted "I mean I could say the same thing about you! What if something dreadful happens to Quinn on his way to the hospital, what if the ambulance crashes huh?"

"Well then I'll be sending my condolences to his family." Freddy replied getting bored of Karim's overdramatic behaviour.

"Well I could say: hey it's Freddy's fault he was in the ambulance in the first place – he's a murderer!" Karim argued. Freddy laughed

"Oh please are we really resorting to these kind of amateur, school-boy tactics? Face it Karim, I owned your client in there. You're just pissed because you know you can't defeat me."

This time it was Karim who laughed

"Defeat you? Is that what you think this is? Some sort of game or, or battle? Welcome to reality Freddy, these are real people's lives we're dealing with here, not some cartoon character on your Nintendo."

"Court will begin in two minutes!" called the usher

"Alright Karim, you've had your rant," Freddy sighed tossing the remains of his coffee into the nearby potted plant "now, if you'll excuse me I have more pressing issues to deal with." And he turned away and headed to the courtroom.

"I mean it Freddy!" Karim called after him "you're pathetic and your ways won't do you good for long! You're nothing but a sham and a fraud!"

"Hey!" Freddy turned and called back whilst walking backward towards the courtroom door "take it to court!" and with an amused chuckle he strutted into the room, nerve-free.


	7. Chapter 7

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 7

Astrid was sitting in the gallery watching as Sam re-entered the room. The jury had reached their verdict and Astrid prayed – yes actually prayed – that Sam was found innocent. It was a farce that he was on trial in the first place, but to find him guilty would be an utter injustice. It was bad enough that he was going to have to have a re-trial for the Mineshaft Incident, Sam didn't need more stress.

Then, Freddy Wishman strolled through the door. Astrid had a desire to boo him like some pantomime villain but she managed to restrain herself. He was followed shortly by Karim Smith, Sam's lawyer who looked red in the face. He was followed by the judge and the court stood to attention. Down below Sam looked up towards her and gave her a small smile, Astrid felt tears in her eyes. There he was standing there all alone in his smart suit trying to look brave and strong but Astrid knew that deep down Sam was afraid – very afraid.

"Mister Temple you have been brought before this court in order to find you either guilty or not guilty of the crimes you committed on the night of the Thanksgiving Massacre," the judge spoke loudly and slowly "these crimes include leading young children into a dangerous and fatal fight, bargaining with the lives of young children in the hope that you and your friends would win said fight and causing grievous bodily harm to name but a few – you and the court know the extensive list as do the jury and when I ask them for their verdict it will either clear you or convict you of _all_ crimes with no exceptions either way, do you understand?"

"Yes your Honour," Sam replied.

"And how do you plead?"

"Not guilty." Sam said. His voice caught a little, Astrid knew why. It was because deep down they both knew that he _was_ guilty, after all Sam did fight Caine that night, he did take risks with the little ones over at the day care but none of it was with intent or malice, Astrid only hoped that the jury understood this too.

The judge turned to the jury and the speaker stood up. Astrid tried to read the man's expression but he kept his emotions well-hidden.

"Mister Temple pleads innocent," the judge said "does the jury find him to be guilty or not guilty?"

The speaker took a breath...

Freddy watched as the juror opened his mouth to reveal the good news. In his own hand was his parker pen, he twirled it between his fingers casually, calmly – cool and collected.

Karim watched as Freddy sat there all smug and superior, twirling his pen around without a care in the world. His arrogance made Karim want to punch him, instead of course, he sat still and silently watching as the juror took his breath.

Astrid waited with baited breath for the results, down below she saw Karim Smith stiffen in his chair. Was this a bad sign? Did he know something already? No surely not, he would be finding out the same time as the rest of the world.

Sam had to bunch his crossed fingers into his trouser pockets so that nobody would see. The juror was standing and the room silent. He quickly shot a glance up at Astrid hoping for that little bit of reassurance but she was looking away, down at the lawyers. Sam stole a second look but her gaze was still firmly averted from his. Sam felt a little worse.

Diana barked at the other idiot girls to shut up. She turned the volume up and held her breath, this case was as important to her as Caine's. If Sam was found innocent then Caine might stand a chance, if he was found guilty then Caine had no hope at all. The cameras were focussing on Sam, Diana saw him look up and smile into the gallery towards where Astrid had been spotted sitting, and Diana knew from the look on Sam's face, Astrid hadn't returned the smile.

Caine was watching the results from the small TV in the court cafeteria, his guard was also mesmerised by the case and had turned the volume up despite the fact that if they'd stayed in the corridor outside the courtroom they would have probably heard the results just as well. He wished he could be watching this with Diana, especially knowing that he would be standing right where Sam was in less than half an hour. She would give him some hope – even if it was in the shape of a sarcastic comment – anything to make him feel a bit better about himself.

Stuart Bovine the speaker of the jury felt very aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes looking right at him, but he didn't care, he was a head teacher, he was used to people staring at him when he was about to speak. He saw the judge, the lawyers, the kid Sam Temple and took a slow and steady breath:

"Not guilty!" he declared.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi everyone! Just a quick note from me the author (author, please -_-) anyway I wanted to clear up one small but_ very _important issue. Some people have asked me 'hey, how come Caine is alive?' which is a pretty valid question in my opinion so I figured I should explain: I began writing this in-between Plague and Fear so obviously Caine was live and kicking back then, I didn't really want to remove him from the story because there are soooo many positives about having him (I mean he's going to have the best trials) so consider this, if you will, a sort of semi AU. However, since he's the only one mentioned so far in the story who didn't actually__ survive the FAYZ I've decided that he will be the only exception so people like Jack and Breeze etc. will _not _be featuring in this story. I hope this makes sense to everyone and seems fair to you but I personally think the story benefits from Caine being alive. Anyway enough from me, the good stuff is three lines down! Hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think - positive or negative I take it all on board. Till we meet again, TR25_

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 8

After the formalities Sam was ushered out of the courtroom. Karim was waiting for him and Sam ran over to him to shake his hand.

"Well done Sam, justice is served!" Karim said ignoring Sam's outstretched hand and pulling him into an all out bear-hug.

"I owe it all to you," Sam replied once he was released "thank you Karim."

"No problem," Karim said and then added more seriously "and don't you worry about the retrial, that will go fine too."

Sam knew Karim didn't mean to but he'd kind of killed his elation – unlike people like Quinn Sam wouldn't be going back to a hotel room that night – granted Quinn's hotel wasn't security free but Sam would be returning to the high security cell that night thanks to his previous court results.

"Sam!" Suddenly the hairs on the back of Sam's neck rose and he turned happily to see Astrid – perfect, beautiful, wonderful Astrid, running towards him with her arms outstretched. He met her and kissed her and hugged her wishing he could just stay like this in a state of sheer happiness and bliss with her forever.

"I knew you could do it Sam!" she said through tears "I'm so proud of you!"

"Me? What about you? You wiped the floor with that Freddy guy!" Astrid blushed and shook of the comment like it was nothing by kissing him once more.

"Damn it!" Freddy kicked the wastepaper bin in his office sending scrunched up scraps of paper everywhere "damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" sitting in his high-backed leather chair he leaned forward and tugged at his blonde hair. Now that result hurt. Sam Temple and the Thanksgiving Massacre was one of the most high profile cases in his agenda – it was one of the most high profile cases in the whole of the FAYZ Trials! And he'd lost. He'd lost against Karim Smith again! How many more times was this going to happen? How many more times was he going to be humiliated and made out to be a pathetic loser again?

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. There was no point in getting upset now, not when he was expected to go back into court any second to face that insufferable little brat Caine Soren.

Caine couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Sam was free! Sam was innocent! If Sam was innocent then so was he so why were they even bothering with his trial? It was strange though, how had Karim suddenly become the super-lawyer Caine had paid him to be? How in the world had Karim Smith managed to win over the jury when Freddy had practically torn Sam to shreds? Then suddenly, it dawned on him: Astrid. Astrid was the one who'd turned things around for Sam, she was the one who'd given Freddy that run for his money. In fact if it wasn't for perfect-girlfriend Astrid the Genius than Sam would most likely be facing a very long sentence right now.

As if a little light had gone off inside his head, Caine realised what he needed now more than ever and there was no way in hell he'd go into that courtroom without it. He marched over to Karim, took him by the shoulder and muttered

"Get Diana."

Freddy had been just about ready to go back into court when the secretary had knocked to tell him that the evening's case had been postponed until tomorrow morning. Apparently Karim had claimed that Caine was too tired after waiting all day to speak in court and that it would benefit everyone to get a night's rest.

Freddy didn't argue but he wasn't happy either – what kind of lame-ass excuse was that anyway? He reckoned Karim and Caine had something up their sleeves so he knew that he needed to be on his toes the next morning and so an evening off did admittedly sound like a good idea.

He was driving in his car now, racing along the quiet roads in his sports car. The radio had been on but all the channels were telling the same story, Sam Temple is Innocent, so he'd knocked it off and turned up the volume to his Mozart CD.

Before long he was in the countryside and on the empty roads he sped up a little more, rolling down the window to let the cool breeze touch his face. After an hour of driving he reached the small, quaint village he'd aimed for and had pulled up outside a white bricked cottage with a large, flowery garden on top of a hill. Next to the front door was the familiar professional plaque which read:

_Mr F. Wishman LL.B._

Glad to be home, Freddy pulled out his keys but then thought better of it and rang the bell.

The navy blue door opened and a short, stern faced lady with rosy cheeks and greying blonde hair appeared before him.

"I thought it might be you," she said knowingly "come on in, your father was about to ring you anyway, he's very disappointed in your performance this afternoon."

"Good to see you too Mother," Freddy muttered stepping inside. His parents' house was very grand on the inside, a mixture of elegance and tradition that made Freddy's ultra modern city apartment seem cheap and tacky. He went into the sitting room where his father Frank was sitting in the window with a glass of scotch and a cigar, he was watching the television and Freddy saw that the program was a coverage of today's jury verdict.

"Sit yourself down dear, dinner will be ready in ten minutes." His mother pushed him into the squashy sofa and bustled out of the room. Freddy saw himself on the screen, the camera had zoomed onto his face to catch his reaction. Freddy scowled at himself, his poker face had let him down there. His father suddenly paused the screen,

"There you go – that's exactly what they wanted." He said without even looking at the real Freddy "Son, the media is all over you, you're becoming bigger than the trials and that's not good," he turned to Freddy and frowned "you're the lawyer, people aren't supposed to care about the lawyers you need to calm down."

"Calm down?" Freddy echoed "Father, these are the biggest trials since Nuremburg! This is my opportunity to go down in history and you're asking me to calm down?"

"I'm not asking you Freddy, I'm telling you – this attitude and behaviour of yours is not a sign of a good, competent lawyer. Going down in history isn't what being a lawyer is all about it's about -"

"Justice," Freddy interrupted "yes I know."

"Freddy I didn't train you just so you could become some sort of reality star, these are peoples' lives we're dealing with here, and not just any people – kids! Kids who've lived through some sort of nightmare than we can't even begin to imagine!"

"Kids who lied, stole, assaulted, shot and murdered each other!" Freddy said shrilly, he wasn't going to let his father lecture him on how to deal with the case.

"I get that Freddy," his father said draining the contents of his glass "I get that these kids aren't saints but as a lawyer you've got to put yourself in their shoes, this isn't your average murder case son, this isn't some punk who shot his girlfriend when he found her in bed with another guy or some idiot doing a hit 'n run,. These are kids who've been faced with obstacles we can't even begin to imagine and you need to remember that," he rewound the TV and pressed play just as the juror declared the verdict again and Freddy watched the camera once again zoom to his own face, he looked gutted, like an Olympic champion placed fourth, like a title holder giving up his title. Hs father saw it too, "it's not a game son, it's not a contest between you and that Smith kid, when all of this is over, nobody's going to be counting who 'won' and who 'lost'..."

"Alright Dad!" Freddy snapped "I get it okay? I need to start treating the case with respect right? I need to...to wake up and smell the coffee? That's what you're going to say isn't it Dad? You're disappointed in me _again_ well I don't know what it is I have to do to impress you, what do you want from me?!"He was shouting now and grasping at straws. His father remained silent but sighed and extinguished his cigar. Freddy watched as he got up and headed towards the dining room but paused to turn to him;

"I just want you to make me proud,"


	9. Chapter 9

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 9

Karim couldn't quite believe what he was doing. He was sitting in the waiting reception of the mental facility where Diana Ladris was a patient. Waiting for a consultation with her doctor, waiting to ask for her to be released for court, waiting on Caine's demands. He felt guilty even being there, after all, her doctor had already deemed her unfit for court once, did that mean he was questioning the authority of a specialist doctor? Caine was such a persuasive kid and from what he knew of Diana she seemed pretty sound of mind – for a FAYZ kid.

"Mr Smith?" the secretary called out "Dr Morgan will see you know," she pointed towards the office door and Karim knocked and entered. Dr Morgan was sitting behind his desk holding a paper copy of the e-mail Karim had sent him.

"Thank you for seeing me Doctor," Karim said shaking the man's hand.

"How can I be of assistance?" Dr Morgan asked once Karim took his seat.

"I need to speak with you about letting Diana Ladris out for the court case tomorrow." Karim said cutting to the chase. Dr Morgan frowned and shook his head,

"Mr Smith, I thought we'd made it clear that this girl is unstable, she cannot possibly give any kind of evidence in court."

"What exactly is wrong with her?" Karim asked, Dr Morgan's eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair

"Mr Smith that is highly confidential," he said

"And I appreciate that," Karim said sincerely "but even if she can't give evidence tomorrow she has her own trials to worry about and as her lawyer I think it's important to know all of the details." Dr Morgan sighed then gave in and went to his filing cabinet.

"I don't think you're going to like what I tell you," he muttered pulling out Diana's file. He placed it down on the desk and opened it. "She's a liar, a compulsive liar, now it's hard to tell whether this is due to her rebelling against us or whether it's a more serious issue, but she can't give evidence."

Karim sighed impatiently

"Dr Morgan I understand your concern but she will be under oath in court and what is said is considered the truth – compulsive liar or not – I know it may not sound ethical but that's out of my control - I need solid reasons for not letting her come, will she putting anyone at risk?"

"The girl is too self involved she cares too much about her own morality than anyone else's she tells me she feels remorse for some of the things she did in the FAYZ and yet when I question her about others actions she scoffs and is so narrow minded about that person that I cannot understand why you would consider anything she says in court to be of worth."

"Look sir, with all due respect, any person giving evidence could be as if not more self involved as Miss Ladris we just don't cross examine them all." Karim said angrily "unless there is a valid reason why she's being kept here I'll have to insist you hand the girl over to me."

"She isn't something to bargain with!" Dr Morgan retorted but Karim could already see by the look on the older man's face that he had given in. "but since you make such a convincing case, I suppose I can release her tomorrow."

"Excellent." Karim sighed.

Quinn was sitting in his hospital bed feeling like an idiot. Who faints in court and needs the paramedics? Now he'd banged his head as a result and doctors worried he'd have concussion. At least Sam got off, that was good. He'd been watching the case unfold on his laptop via the news channels. Astrid had done good, in fact, Quinn reckoned it was Astrid that really saved the day. Freddy looked good to beat Sam until Astrid stepped up. It was Caine's turn today, and he didn't have anybody to defend him, Diana the only person who potentially could help his out was in the mad house. Quinn shivered at the thought – Diana in a mental house...

Caine's guard had arrived late to collect him and by the time they reached the court house Karim had already gone inside the chambers. Great. Caine wanted to talk to him, to find out what would be happening. Would Diana be there or would he have to defend himself alone?

Diana was sitting in an office room in the courthouse. The door was guarded by an armed security guard which was a bit extreme, it's not like she was going to break out or anything – where would she go? Back to the asylum? Yeah, right.

"Where the hell is your client?" Freddy snapped at Karim. Caine Soren was fifteen minutes late and the judge looked set to call the whole thing off. Karim didn't reply because the door opened and Caine Soren was escorted inside by three policemen. Dressed in dark trousers and a simple blue shirt Caine Soren looked as bratty as ever and Freddy relished the challenge. His father's words weren't going to stop him from ripping this kid to pieces, this wasn't some Oscar bait movie with a happy ending it was real life and Freddy was ruthless.

Freddy watched as Caine swore on the Bible and the formalities were carried out, the boy was calm but Freddy could see there was something playing on his mind. He looked uneasy, lost even, like someone who hadn't been told the full story, like a newbie in court. Interesting.

"Caine Soren," the judge announced "you are being trialled for the deliberate attack on Perdido Beach and the accusation that you are responsible for the deaths of several young children, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty." Caine replied. The judge nodded at Freddy and he stood up ready to fight.

"So Caine – can I call you Caine? Or would Fearless Leader be more apt?" Caine shrugged

"Call me what you like,"

"Did you plan an attack on Perdido Beach?"

"No." Freddy paused and in mock shock asked

"So you really are innocent? The truth please Caine, you are under oath."

"I didn't plan an attack on Perdido Beach" the boy insisted

"Ok then, did you attack Perdido Beach regardless of any prior planning?"

"No."

"So what are you saying Caine my boy?" Freddy asked "are you telling me that you have no idea why you're even in court today? C'mon Caine give me something!"

"The only thing I planned to attack was Sam Temple,"

"Oh yeah? And why's that Caine?" Freddy asked "a bit of the ol' sibling rivalry? Or were you perhaps sick of being the un-favourite? Jealous even?" That hit a nerve, Caine's jaw tightened and his gaze hardened

"Why would I be jealous of Sam?"

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm the one asking the questions here Caine not you," Freddy said waving his pen at the boy "so come on, why did you want to attack Sam? Was it because you wanted to have complete control of Perdido Beach?"

"How can anyone have complete control of a whole town?"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Freddy's shout silenced the whole room. Even Karim looked slightly startled

"Ok then, yes, that's why I picked a fight with Sam." Caine said with a slight smirk – the kid was enjoying this!

"And you brought along a pack of man eating , mutant coyotes for decoration huh?" Freddy asked running his hand through his hair angrily. Caine sighed now and looked weary

"Look I brought them along as a threat, so that Sam would take me seriously – in fact I thought that by bringing them along it would have the opposite effect."

"Explain." Freddy probed

"Well I figured Sam would see the threat and would give himself up quickly to make sure that nobody would get hurt."

"But you let Drake and the coyotes do their own thing regardless in the end right?"

"No, I trusted Drake to control them but-" Freddy interrupted with a cruel laugh

"You trusted Drake Merwin!? The most feared boy in the FAYZ?"

"Back then he was not the threat – I was." Caine replied smugly

"You wish." Freddy scoffed

"Mr Wishman please remain professional," the judge said.

"Excuse me your Honour," Freddy apologised "so Caine you're basically saying that this was all Drake's fault am I right? He wasn't as trustworthy as you thought right?"

"Perhaps," Caine said confidently "or maybe Sam wasn't as nice a guy as I thought."

Diana was listening to Caine's speech, he sounded as arrogant and self important as ever and she began to worry whether her contribution would make any difference to the case. She took a drink of water and adjusted the collar of her shirt. She felt stupid all dressed up in a suit she really didn't understand why people had insisted she dress smartly, criminals weren't supposed to look good right?

She was nervous. She knew what she had to do and say: make out like Caine had only intended to attack Sam and nothing else, pretend that he'd told her his intentions before hand – essentially she had to lie. Which shouldn't really be too big a deal – she was a pro at lying. But it was what Dr Morgan had said that was putting her off. He'd told Karim that he classified her as a compulsive liar, someone not to be trusted. Really she should be going out there to prove that balding idiot wrong, she should say how Caine didn't care about the safety of others at all, how he was determined to cause chaos to earn respect and how he knew how dangerous it would be to leave Drake in charge of the coyotes.

She ought to tell the truth in court, she'd be swearing an oath! But Diana Ladris was just too good a liar.

Once he had finished cross examining Caine, the judge called recess and Freddy left the courtroom for a coffee. When he reached the desk in the foyer the line for coffee was snaking out onto the road outside and there were groups of reporters swarming the place so he decided to sneak out the back and go to the coffee house across the street.

He felt pretty good about himself, the Caine interview had been fine, nothing had gone horribly wrong but at the same time it wasn't a glowing performance. Diana Ladris the Caine equivalent to Astrid was giving evidence yet – how Karim had managed to get her released from the mad house he didn't know but he guessed it was unethical. He was unsure as to how to approach the Diana questioning: would she be difficult? Would she speak in riddles? He'd had no time whatsoever to research her and he was tempted to complain to the judge.

The coffee house was more of a deli bar with tall stools in the window and lots of bright white lights. He ordered an espresso and went to sit in the window next to a guy in a fedora. When he sat down the guy gasped and made to get up,

"Oh sorry pal," Freddy said "did my stool hit you?" he turned to look into the eyes of Quinn Gaither who looked like a rabbit in the headlines "well, well, well!" Freddy exclaimed on recognising him "so you're out of hospital, feeling better Quinn?" Quinn gulped and nodded "don't go fainting on me now!" Freddy joked, the kid looked terrified and he rolled his eyes "look Quinn, you're not on trial now, I'm not going to interrogate you here, we've got plenty of time for that next week." He winked and Quinn seemed to both relax and tense up at the same time. What a loser, Freddy thought. If he was the one giving evidence to support Caine it would be a walk in the park, he could squeeze any information out of this kid. That's when Freddy got his idea:

"So Quinn," he said casually playing with his spoon "Diana Ladris is out of the loony bin, does that surprise you?" Quinn looked momentarily surprised then shrugged

"I guess she was probably too much work for the shrinks." He said, Freddy wasn't sure if it was a joke or not.

"Difficult is she?" he asked trying to keep his tone casual rather than interrogative.

"Well yeah, I mean she stuck with Caine no matter what, you do know she got pregnant right?"

"Of course I know she got pregnant." Freddy said irritated – he'd done _some _research. He paused wondering if he should ask any more questions, Quinn looked set to leave any second and this would be his only chance. "I suppose she and Caine had a very loving relationship then, even in the FAYZ."

"Are you kidding me?" Quinn laughed pushing his fedora to the back of his head "they acted like they hated each other! She would constantly put him down, over and over, again and again – it was like he could never please her! And he was no better, he'd side with Drake over her in the early days and if she tried to talk him outta doing something or get in the way he would just toss her aside, _whoomph_." Quinn made a gesture with his hand like he was swatting a fly.

"Really?" Freddy asked, intrigued. "would he actually use his powers on her?"

"Sure," Quinn said leaning back in his chair seemingly relaxed now, "like that night when the coyotes attacked, she tried to stop Caine from wrecking the church and beating on Sam and he just picked her up off the ground and threw her out of his way – whoomph." He made the same hand gesture and Freddy felt a thrill of excitement. This was wonderful information that he could use in court, there'd be no way Diana could worm her way out of this one – he'd be on fire! He downed his espresso and stood up,

"Thanks Quinn, you've been a great help," he said his eyes fixed on the courthouse opposite.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked his face puzzled. Freddy smiled down at the wimpy kid in a fedora and held back a chuckle

"No matter Quinn," and he headed to the door "oh and see you in court!" he added cheerily.

"She's here? She's actually here?" Caine couldn't believe what Karim was telling him Diana was here! He felt like a child at Christmas! The Thanksgiving Massacre was always going to be his toughest case but now it felt like the easiest! Diana was here and she would cover for him and all would be good! He felt like dancing, or singing show tunes.

"Remember Caine, I had to pull a few strings here and not all of them were entirely professional," Karim was saying "I bent a few rules." But Caine wasn't listening, Diana was here!

"Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day!"

"Caine I'm serious!" Karim said in disbelief as Caine twirled around his office "just because Diana is here it doesn't guarantee you'll get off!"

"...everything's going my way! What?!" Caine stopped dead. "What's that supposed to mean? With Diana here it should be certain that I get off _if you do your job properly_!" there was more than threat in his voice and Karim seriously wondered how sane the kid was.

"Caine, it's not over until the fat lady sings okay? There's no certainties here, Freddy is a good lawyer and you're going to need to be on your toes." Caine glowered at Karim his ecstasy completely forgotten.

"You think I'm taking it lightly?" he asked in a low voice "you think I don't take this seriously?"

"Well pirouetting around my office singing Oklahoma tunes doesn't scream out serious to me!" Karim said losing his cool "at least show some humility out there Caine, you're not making things any better for yourself with your arrogance."

Caine took a step forward and looked Karim square in the eye

"I'll do my job," he said icily "and you do yours."


	10. Chapter 10

The FAYZ Trials Chapter 10

"Miss Diana Ladris, do you swear on the Bible to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Freddy watched excitedly as Diana swore her oath, let's see how loyal a girlfriend she could be once he piled on the pressure. A quick glance over at Karim told him that he was thinking the same thing, he was sweating, actually sweating Freddy could see beads of perspiration on his forehead. The judge nodded at him and he rose from his seat ready for action.

"Members of the jury," he announced "viewers at home," he added turning to cast lopsided smile at the nearest camera "allow me to introduce you to the FAYZ's very own Lady Macbeth, King Caine's Queen, the mother of the Gaiaphage, and now inpatient at the local asylum: Miss Diana Ladris!" Diana glared down at him "ho-ho! Did I mention Ice Queen?" he added. He spotted Karim shaking his head and continued quickly before he was interrupted.

"Ok Diana, what can you tell the jury about the nature of your relationship with Caine Soren the oh-so powerful?"

"What do you want to know?" she replied coolly

"Ok, how long did it take you to develop your infatuation with him?"

Diana laughed haughtily

"If anybody was infatuated with anyone he was infatuated with me!"

"So you didn't have a crush on him or anything?"

"Well he's pretty cute to look at" she shrugged "and he has a great personality." She added sarcastically.

"Well you can joke around as much as you like Miss Ladris, you must have some sort of feelings for him otherwise you wouldn't be standing here defending him today now would you?" Diana opened her mouth to answer but Freddy cut her off "and you wouldn't have nursed him for months when he was possessed by the Gaiaphage or made love to him and carried his child now would you?" Freddy stood smugly and gave the camera a grin and a wink.

"_Made love _to him?" Diana mocked "really Mr Wishman is that what you think we did or is that just what you tell all your girls?" There were a few chuckles up in the gallery and Karim smirked into his notes, Freddy saw one of the camera guys point his camera right at his face no doubt for a close up reaction shot. _Don't take the bait _he mentally noted.

"Alright, you're going to be difficult," Freddy mused loud enough for the whole room to hear "members of the jury what we have here is a clear case of a young girl in love with a boy who quite obviously has some sort of power over her – please, let's cut to the chase Miss Ladris, your relationship with Mr Soren was something of an exclusivity within the FAYZ right?" he watched as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and nibbled at her top lip. Then, she nodded her head

"Yeah I guess we were pretty special."

Lana watched from her hotel room as Diana made her first TV appearance. Caine's much awaited trail had been outshined by the media frenzy caused by Diana's arrival in court. Every channel was broadcasting the scenes live. Lana was watching with interest as Diana was questioned rigorously, she was surprised by how little Diana had changed since the end of the FAYZ; she was still as cold, cruel and calculating as ever and her sarcastic comments towards Freddy Wishman made for great viewing. Her comment about making love with Caine actually had Lana in stitches. Edilio on the other hand was less amused, he found the whole thing unsettling, why should Diana be allowed out of the asylum just to help Caine? Why was she in the asylum in the first place? Had the FAYZ screwed her up as much as the media made out? Edilio couldn't understand how she'd been allowed to stand in court and he hoped that it wouldn't stop justice from happening.

She was sweating, really, properly sweating. There were beads of sweat on her forehead and the collar of her blouse was stuck to the back of her neck. Diana had never felt such a pressure to remain cool in her life before. Freddy was a first class jerk and he was stressing her out.

"So we've established your relationship with Caine," he was speaking like this was some sort of high school English teacher breaking down the chapters of a classic novel – all calm and controlled and a little condescending. "he was a kind boy wasn't he? Kind and caring does that sum Caine up Miss Ladris?"

Of course it didn't Caine was cruel, cold and manipulative with an ego bigger even than Freddy's. There wasn't the slightest trace of anything that even hinted at kindness in Caine, but did Freddy want her to say this? Did he want her to disagree and paint Caine in the light that he always stood in?

"Miss Ladris?" the judge asked as the room waited for her answer, she noticed Karim looking anxious and Freddy's smile widen a little – so he was pleased that she was hesitant – the idiot.

"Y'know," she replied "Caine was never the nicest person but he was pretty kind." She stole a glance down at Freddy whose smile had disappeared. "I mean, he saved the town from the Bugs and risked his own life to do that, he was kind enough to help Penny when she had her broken legs and he protected me from Drake at the Mineshaft Incident." She said with realisation as she spoke the words.

"Miss Ladris don't try and pull the wool over the eyes of the jury!" Freddy shouted making her jump. "Caine Soren is the boy who got you pregnant then told you he wanted nothing to do with the unborn child, he is the boy who threatened to use his powers against you to get you to sleep with him! How can you possibly call that kindness!?"

"I suppose it depends on what you measure kindness in Mr Wishman," Diana replied coolly "growing up I wasn't used to much kindness, just dirty creeps spying on me in the shower and a drunken mother – to me Caine was and is something of a Mr Darcy."

"Does Mr Darcy have mutant powers?" Freddy asked calmly – what a stupid question

"No." Diana said

"But supposing he did," Freddy continued "do you think he would use them to throw his girlfriend through space whenever she disagreed with him, the way Caine did when you disagreed with him? Let's say for example – oh I don't know – when you disagreed with his plans _on the night of the Massacre!?" _

Diana felt like she'd dipped her face in bucket of ice – how did he know about that?! There was a ripple of excitement in the room and the judge called for order.

"You knew exactly what Caine was planning that night Miss Ladris and now you have the nerve to come here and swear an oath that he is as innocent as he claims to be!" Freddy said angrily "you're as bad as he is and liar too!"

"No!" Diana objected "no you don't understand, Caine never planned for this to happen – I only tried to stop him taking on Sam! I didn't even care about the coyotes!"

"Oh! Ho-ho! Really?" Freddy guffawed "then you really are as bad as he is because he didn't seem to care much about them either or the children they were devouring!"

"Mister Wishman!" the judge warned

"Forgive me Your Honour but this girl is an useless witness and her testimony is utter rubbish! Why are you defending him Diana?" he addressed her personally which riled Diana "are you scared of him? Worried he might put you through a window or a wall? You're certainly not doing this because you love him because you've never shown him any affection during the whole of the FAYZ: constant put-downs, snide remarks, meaningless sex and abandoning him to go and discuss your pregnancy with his twin brother don't count!"

"You think Caine would ever hurt me on purpose? I have nothing to fear when I'm with him!" Diana shouted angrily causing the cameras to all swivel and pan on her in unison "Caine is innocent and I'm not going to let you paint me as some silly, shallow schoolgirl who doesn't know when her boyfriend is using her or not!"

Freddy grinned at her like a Cheshire cat.

"Okay Diana, maybe I'm wrong, maybe you do love him and maybe he's innocent – or maybe, just maybe, you're as sick and twisted as I suspected you'd be."

Quinn sat horrified as the events unfolded – now he realised what he'd done! He'd supplied Freddy with information to use against Caine and Diana! He felt so used and stupid – how could he have allowed himself to talk to Freddy so openly when the guy had been trying to send him to prison hours before? It wasn't that he cared about Caine and Diana – they deserved everything they were going to get it was the fact that Freddy had manipulated him so easily, it almost made him as bad as them.

The camera was focused on Diana's face and she looked frustrated – like she knew Freddy had gotten his information from an outside source. Quinn shuddered to think about what she and Caine would have done to him had they found out he was the one who'd supplied Freddy with his ammunition and they'd been back in the FAYZ. He pictured himself being hurled through the air and across the block by Caine with Diana lazily egging him on.

He felt sick.

"This was not supposed to happen!"

Karim paced his office as Diana vented her frustration from his chair. She wasn't wrong, Freddy had somehow acquired a whole bunch of information that Diana hadn't even told him let alone Freddy! It was going to be very difficult to question her once the recess ended, he'd have to change his whole structure – and Caine wasn't going to be happy. Diana was supposed to make him look better in court not worse! Frustrated, Karim tugged at his short black hair and sighed wearily.

"Why am I even doing this?" he muttered to himself, Caine is as guilty as they come, why was he defending him?

"Because we're just kids." Diana said solemnly as though reading his mind. Karim stared up at her,

"Come again?"

"You heard me," Diana said popping her feet up onto his desk and leaning back in the chair "we're just kids. I know what you're thinking, you're wondering why you ever bothered signing on to this whole farce in the first place right? Well let me remind you, none of us knew if we were ever going to see our parents again, none of us knew if we'd ever eat a decent meal again or live a regular kids life ever again, jeez, once Bette was killed none of us even knew if we were getting out of the FAYZ alive. But we did, and when we did, we had the whole world staring at us like bugs under a microscope. We had to deal with the fact that our parents, teachers, friends and even strangers were judging us for what had happened in there.

'Put them in jail!' they said, we were lunatics, misfits of society who ought to be locked up or institutionalised. And then it got worse remember? Whispers of locking us all up in some cell off the coast of Guatemala, sterilising us, _exterminating _us because we were a threat to society!"

"Diana, you know those were the extremes only, most of those people were locked up for saying such things,"

"Okay fine, those were the extremists granted, but what about the everyday folk who still wanted us on medication, in private schools and away from them and their happy little suburban lives? Do you remember what happened when the Government issued the nationwide poll? The one that started these trials in the first place? 92% of the population thought we were guilty of the crimes before us without trial – 92%!"

Karim remembered well, it was all over the news, it was the only thing people talked about for weeks.

"But don't you remember what you did?" Diana asked her voice surprisingly soft "it was people like you who thought that this was unfair, people like you who understood that we had gone through something unimaginable to the regular person, people like you campaigned for us for months so that we could have a fair trial because you actually cared about us and cared about justice. But if you can't see that anymore Karim, then I don't think there's any hope for me, Caine or anyone else."

Caine sat in the detention room with his guard whilst Diana was giving her accounts. He couldn't see or hear her and unlike the rest of the world he didn't have access to a TV, phone or a computer. The suspense was killing him, he had to know what was going on – surely it was his right to know! He shot a glance at his dopey guard who was yawning in the seat next to him and slowly stood up, at once the guy snapped to attention.

"Where d'you think you're going?" he asked standing up and towering over Caine.

"The bathroom," Caine shrugged as innocently as he could. The guard raised an eyebrow and Caine sighed dramatically. "What I can't go to the bathroom? What am I supposed to do, wet myself?"

"You can hold on." The guard said gruffly

"How do you expect me to go and stand in front of all those people if I'm about to burst?" Caine asked waving an arm in the direction of the courtroom "please, I'll be five minutes, you don't have to come with me and hold my hand."

"Fine!" the guard said throwing up his hands in resignation "You've got two minutes and if you're not back by then I call the top security and you'll be back in your cell faster than you can say..." he paused seemingly thinking of a suitable word, Caine waited with a smirk

"Faster than?" he prompted

"Just go!"

"Alright Miss Ladris, as Mister Wishman has established you had a somewhat ...turbulent relationship with Mr Soren but let me ask the jury this: how many teenagers have shaky relationships that are unhealthy today? Too many and they're not living in a world where talking coyotes and boys with tentacles for arms roam the streets. Granted your relationship was far from normal but having said that you were still the person closest to Caine in the whole of the FAYZ correct?" For the first time in his career Karim was unsettled delivering his speech, he couldn't focus, Freddy had messed things up too much this time and Diana's reasoning speech had both inspired him and terrified him at the same time – she was right, he was doing this because he believed in justice – why else would he be a lawyer? And he cared about those kids, he cared about what happened to Sam and Astrid and Quinn and even Caine. It was up to him to save them but Freddy Wishman kept getting in the way.

"T-tell me what Caine was like please Miss Ladris, and what led him to act so rashly on the night in question" He stumbled over his words and noticed Freddy lean forward and take notice as he did so.

"Caine was very power hungry," Diana replied confidently "he had an ego bigger than the dome but he saw Sam as a threat because people took more notice of Sam because he was the local hero. By the time us Coates kids arrived in town Sam had already made an impression on the kids and Caine couldn't take control of the town the way he wanted to."

"So he was jealous of Sam?"

"I guess a little, although I'd say he was more jealous of the respect Sam had." Diana said thoughtfully

"But Caine knew that he and Sam were brothers didn't he?" Karim asked checking his notes and not really processing what Diana was saying

"Uh, yeah he did and he also knew that people poofed on their 15th birthday." Diana replied

"Poofed?" Freddy laughed from his seat "I think that's an understatement." Karim ignored him and continued to press Diana.

"So with this information can you explain to the jury what Caine's intentions were on the night in question?"

"Sure, with the help of Computer Jack - " Diana paused her voice catching suddenly, Karim remembered that Jack the boy she was referring to had died before the barrier lifted but it still seemed odd to see Diana convey any kind of emotion. She steadied herself;

"With the help of Jack we worked out how to beat the poof" her eyes narrowed at Freddy when she said this as though daring him to make a sarcastic comment "and since they were twins Caine knew that Sam would be poofing the same time as he would be. Caine thought that Sam wouldn't know how to beat it and figured that Sam would poof and he would beat the poof and stay behind to take charge with Sam out of the way. Of course being Caine, he wanted the whole of the town to see the showdown, he wanted to gloat in front of Sam and have everyone see."

"So Caine's only crime that night was over-indulgence?" Karim asked and Diana nodded

"Excuse me Your Honour," Freddy said dryly and standing up "but may I interject?" he turned to Karim "How can you possibly even think of trying to tell this very intelligent jury that storming to the town with a band of mad coyotes and a plan to allow one boy to 'poof' knowing that there was a way out of it is nothing but over-indulgence? Have you not seen the pictures issued by the hospital of these 'poof' victims? They look more like road kill than children!" he rummaged through his file and tossed a laminated picture of the girl known as Mary Terafino onto Karim's table, a sickening sight. "This boy wanted his brother his twin brother to end up like this just so he can play Head Boy for a while! I thought you were a better lawyer than this Mr Smith!" Freddy said resulting in a gasp from both the jury and the gallery audience "The boy is clearly a lunatic!"

"Well it takes one to know one," Karim muttered darkly

"Excuse me?!" Freddy's face was bewildered and the judge called for order.

"You heard me," Karim replied "you swan in here with your fancy speeches, dressed to the nines like it's the Academy Awards and expect me to treat you like a fellow lawyer? You're a joke, here for the money and the attention and that's it!"

"Mr Smith this is not the place for such behaviour!" the judge said angrily

"I'm the joke?!" Freddy laughed completely ignoring the judge "I'm not the one defending blatant psychopaths just because they have a sob story!"

"That's all this is to you though isn't it Freddy? A sob story, let's get out the violins huh? These kids, these _children _were trapped underneath an impenetrable dome for over a year, running out of food, medicine and water and their lives were plagued constantly by the threat of mutant creatures swooping in and destroying them and you call it a sob story! Then you come in here after everything they've been through after all the pain, horror and death that they've witnessed and endured and tear them to pieces for trying to survive!" Karim was shaking with anger now and the whole room had fallen silent, even the judge had given up on maintaining order and peace. "You're a terrible lawyer Freddy and a terrible person for attacking these kids the way you do!"

"Oh come on!" Freddy said and he actually laughed which made Karim even madder "I'm just doing my job, like it or not people like Caine Soren cannot be allowed to live amongst society until they have atoned for what they've done! The boy has killed people in cold blood – it doesn't matter why he did it but at the end of the day he and many others that survived have killed – how would you like it if you were that girl Penny's father? The whole world saw Caine Soren bash her brains out live on camera! Now irrelevant of whatever sick things she did in there she's dead and she can't defend herself but look at who gets to walk free: Caine Soren the killer. You call me a terrible person, you need to have a long hard think about what a terrible person really is – I'm just doing my job, it's not like I'm coming in here and killing kittens or something!"

"Stop trying to make light of everything!" Karim snapped and in a moment of madness shoved Freddy so hard that he toppled over onto his desk sending pens, papers and his glass of water all over onto the floor.

"MR SMITH!" the judge roared "REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS BUILDING AT ONCE!"

Karim stared at what he had just done aware of the cameras pointed at him, Freddy was picking up his papers angrily his face so livid that Karim was sure that had the cameras not been there Freddy would have surely given him a black eye.

"Your Honour I'm sorry I-"

"Enough! This session is over for the foreseeable future," the judge nodded over at the guards by Diana and they took her away and as two more guards approached him, Karim knew that it was time he left as well.


	11. Chapter 11

The FAYZ Trials – Chapter 11

Caine was squatted down by the door of the court room, his ear pressed against the key hole in a futile attempt to hear what Diana was saying when the door swung open and sent him flying across the marble floors. It was Karim and he looked livid. So much so that he didn't even see Caine sprawled out on the floor with a bloody nose. Scrambling to his feet Caine followed Karim to his office jogging to keep up with the lawyer who was walking so quickly.

"Karim what's happening?" Caine asked as they reached the door to the office

"Not now Caine," he replied and slammed the door on his face. Caine was about to barge in and demand to know what was happening when Freddy Wishman and the Judge himself came around the corner debating heatedly. Caine ducked around the corner out of view and listened hard to what they were saying as they approached Karim's door

"...your behaviour didn't exactly help, Mr Wishman"

"Your Honour! This suit cost a lot of money and now I've got a massive ink stain thanks to that idiot!"

"That's really the least of my problems, I've got a jury that just witnessed a cat fight between two supposedly professional lawyers and a girl whose evidence can't possibly be used now thanks to you two! Your suit really isn't high on my list of concerns!"

Caine, who was still listening felt his heart skip a beat, Diana's evidence couldn't be used? Why not? Why the hell not? What had happened in there?

Karim didn't bother to answer when Judge Clark Robinson knocked on the door of his office – he was too busy trying to calm himself down. Robinson entered anyway followed to Karim's disgust by Freddy who was sulking like a child.

"We need to talk," Robinson said

"I'm sorry about what happened in there Clark but I meant everything that I said." Karim said frustrated by Freddy who had sauntered over to his bookshelf and was examining his law books.

"I don't doubt you do Karim but you've fucked up that testimony, I can't allow the jury to take anything from that session into consideration and that includes all of Diana Ladris' accounts" Clark sat down and light up a cigar something Karim knew he only did when he was stressed

"So what does that mean? I don't have any other people willing to testify for Caine!" Karim argued

"What does that tell you about Caine then huh?" Freddy said from behind a copy of Criminal Law.

"It tells me that most of the kids who were there that night are now dead!"

"Look would you two just quit it already?" Clark sighed breathing smoke everywhere "you're like a bunch of teenage girls bitching like this."

"My sister would take offence to that comment," Freddy said sarcastically "Face it Karim boy, Caine Soren is screwed and he knows it, I say just let the jury make their decision already! Why drag out the inevitable?"

"He'll appeal for a re-trial," Freddy warned the two of them "and he'll certainly have a good case for one, nobody can really call this a fair hearing after today!"

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?" Freddy retorted

"Look the press are crawling over this place like roaches," Clark said impatiently "you need to issue a public apology for your behaviour – you too Freddy, and I'll announce that Soren's verdict will take place tomorrow, if your kid wants to appeal it's up to him but we've got a million and one more cases to get through and I swear to God anymore of this pettiness and I'm gonna drop dead!"

Karim wanted to argue and by the look on Freddy's face so did he but he could see Clark's point – the press would never let them live this down unless they dealt with it quickly.

"Fine," he said

"Good," Clark said putting out his cigar on Karim's mint tray "let's do it then."

"Where'd you go?" asked Caine's guard

"Put the TV on!" Caine snapped pointing to one of the walled televisions nearby – he had to know exactly what had happened in the courtroom. His guard hesitated and Caine shot him a death glare which hurried him along. A news channel popped up and Caine saw a crowd of journalists outside a grand building which Caine instantly recognised as the court building. The bulletin read as live so Caine peeked out of the window and saw that the crowd was even bigger than it looked on the screen, at the bottom of the screen read the headline Courtroom Chaos: Lawyers of Layabouts? Next footage of Karim pushing Freddy Wishman played over on repeat – Caine stared with his mouth gaping.

"Glad I recorded this!" the guard said

Karim followed Clark and Freddy outside towards the crowd of journalists. As soon as they stepped outside he was blinded by the flashes of the paparazzi cameras.

"You go first," Clark whispered to him, Karim sighed and stepped forward

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen," he said as politely as he could into the nearest microphone. "As I'm sure you're all aware there was a rather – heated – debate earlier in court which was instigated by myself. I would like to formally apologise for my behaviour in court and assure you that this will not happen again and that in future I will do my upmost to ensure that I do not let my emotions get the better of me again. Thank you"

"Nice to see you showing some balls in court for a change Mr Smith!" called a blonde haired female reporter near the front of the crowd. Karim had no witty response and the reporter winked at him in response. He stepped away before he could be bombarded with more questions from the other journalists. Freddy issued his apology next and even took a few questions before handing over to Clark who broke the news to the press. Questions were hurtled at him but to Karim's relief he refused to answer them and the three of them returned inside and headed to the back exit where their cars were parked.

"I should go and talk to Caine and Diana," Karim sighed – Freddy shrugged and drove off,

"I'll see you in court," Clark said and he too drove away. Karim walked back in and went to find his 'clients' He found Diana sitting in the isolation so he ordered for Caine to brought in too – it would be best for him to talk to them together.

Diana said nothing to him when he entered the room. He waited for Caine to arrive but the awkwardness became too much for him so he went to go and get a drink

"I'm getting a coffee," he said to Diana "would you like one?"

"No thanks but an explanation would be good," she replied icily "I've already worked out what's going to happen because believe it or not Astrid isn't the only one with brains around here – obviously thanks to your hissy fit everything that I said in court will be discredited right?"

Karim didn't answer

"Tell me I'm wrong Karim," Diana said with a mocking smile "Come on you're a lawyer with a Harvard degree right? Who am I? A fifteen year old from a mental institute!"

Caine entered guard in tow. He looked angry and confused at the same time and Karim guessed that he still hadn't been told the full story.

"Hey," Diana said to him

"Hi," he replied his voice cracking.

"I think you should sit down," Karim said and he braced himself for the wrath of Caine.

Diana waited in silence for Caine to say something. Karim had explained everything and confirmed what she'd been dreading: everything she'd said counted for nothing.

"This can't be happening." Caine muttered in a faraway voice after several minutes of silence. Karim looked wearily wary and avoided eye contact with either of them. "What were you thinking?!"

"I was angry with Freddy!" Karim said angrily "he'd already ripped Diana to pieces there was no real point in me asking her any questions – Freddy had annihilated her! And I didn't like it okay?"

"Excuse me for trying me best." Diana said irritated with Karim's dismissal of her help

"But now everything she said is unaccredited! We might as well of asked Gaia to support me the good it's brought me!" Caine argued

"Papa don't preach" Diana said cuttingly

"Oh, get over yourself Diana!" Caine snapped back

"Good job discrediting Freddy's description of your loving relationship!" Karim said sarcastically clearly irritated with the two of them

"Well we can't exactly go around kissing babies and helping old people cross the road together can we?" Diana snapped back

"Neither can Astrid and Sam!" Karim replied

"DO NOT COMPARE ME TO SAM!" Caine spat standing so quickly that his chair fell to the floor. "I swear Karim! If I go down tomorrow then we're through! I'll cancel our contract and find someone else! I'll find a better lawyer!"

"Well good luck with that!" Karim said gathering his briefcase and notes, then he nodded at Caine's guard in the corner of the room "you can take him away now thanks." Diana watched as the guard dragged Caine from the room – she wanted to call out to him, say something, anything but couldn't – she just watched him go. Karim walked to the door with his coat slung over his shoulder –

"What about me?" Diana asked him – she didn't have a personal guard like Caine

"Isn't there someone waiting for you?" he asked her sounding genuinely concerned and a lot more like the Karim that she'd gotten to know

"No. Nobody cares about me y'see," she replied "I'm not dangerous enough or precious enough for anyone to give a damn."

Karim sighed;

"I'll give you a lift to your hotel," he sighed

"I have a hotel?"

Karim cocked his head sideways and almost smile

"I'll give you a lift to _a _hotel," he rephrased

In his car Freddy tried to relax by turning on the classical station. Karim had pushed him in front of millions on live TV! This case was really starting to heat up, maybe his father had been right after all, maybe he should start looking into the legal side of things more rather than worry about his image. Freddy sniggered at his own thoughts – yeah right!

He thought about what Karim had said – about the FAYZ kids being well, just kids. Freddy understood what Karim meant but he just couldn't overlook the fact that Caine Soren was an evil kid who killed in cold blood – freakish powers or not it was unacceptable!

His phone buzzed. It was Clark telling him that the head of the jury had contacted him and they had come to a conclusion. Freddy's heart hammered against his chest – had Karim's little speech influenced the jury? Surely not! He sighed and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and continued along the road toward the highway. He needed a good night's sleep to prepare him for the morning and his parents' house was just too stressful, his own home was just under an hour's drive away on the outskirts of the city and would have to do. Unless – Freddy spied the bar lights of a nearby hotel and pulled into the car park next to it.

Astrid was sitting opposite Sam in the police visiting room. Sam was dressed in his orange body suit looking tired but happy. It stuck her as to how happy he looked – there wasn't a single other smiling face in the room. But she figured if anybody sitting in the room was likely to be out anytime soon it would be soon. With her help and Karim's expertise Sam's re-trial would be a walk in the metaphorical park.

"Did you see the fuss today?" Sam asked her

Who hadn't? If there was one tiny thing that worried Astrid it was the stability of Karim Smith. His stress levels must be through the roof – Astrid remembered being amazed when it was first announced that he would be defending each and every charged FAYZ kid single-handedly – six months on and she was amazed that he hadn't thrown in the towel. Despite her doubts she didn't want to upset Sam – not when his hopes were up.

"Man, Karim smacked Freddy pretty hard right? Well I can't say I wasn't pleased though, I mean who doesn't want to see Freddy Wishman sprawled out on the floor?" Sam laughed and Astrid raised an eyebrow

"I didn't have you down as a violent person Sam, remember Freddy is only doing his job"

Sam squirmed in his chair and Astrid couldn't tell if he was mad or sorry.

"Oh come on Astrid – he'd be doing us all a favour if he just dropped dead."

"Sam!"

Sam rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his hair

"Okay, I'm sorry that was a little harsh." He admitted "but that doesn't mean I won't be sorry if I never have to see his face ever again!"

Karim drove Diana out of town – he didn't want her exposed to the media. Eventually he found her a secure enough looking hotel called the Bachelor.

"Don't leave your room tonight," he told her once he had booked her a room for the night "I'll take you back into town tomorrow for Caine's verdict," Clark had text him on the ride over telling him the jury was ready.

"Whatever." Diana said shrugging and taking the key from him "where are you going?"

"Home." Karim lied. In reality he was going back to his office, to look over his notes in a desperate attempt to find anything new that could save Caine. He took Diana upstairs and once he was sure she was safe he headed back to his car.

Outside the sky had clouded over with big black clouds that undoubtedly carried plenty of rain. There was a faint rumble of thunder as he entered his car – hopefully the storm wouldn't beat him back into town. He wished he'd just left Diana in town, now he had one long ride back into town.

Freddy was admittedly in a dive bar but he didn't care. He ordered a tequila shot and a whiskey chaser. He didn't know why – he wasn't planning on getting plastered but he had nothing better to do.

"Well, well, well," came a female voice "if it isn't my good for nothing brother." Freddy turned and saw a woman in her late twenties with long blonde hair grinning at him from across the bar – his sister, news reporter Felicity Wishman. She stood up and snaked over to his side "drinking alone?" she asked as means of greeting "unlike you."

"Hello sister," Freddy groaned – he wasn't in the mood for her jibes tonight.

"So how's the case?" she asked, Freddy stared at her and laughed

"Like you don't know!" he scoffed "you, the media, know my every move!" Felicity laughed and tossed her hair playfully

"Oh come on Fred – how about a little inside scoop huh?"

"Yeah right,"

Felicity played with the olive in her Martini.

"I saw Karim today," she said

"So did I," Freddy muttered sarcastically "small world huh?"

"You know what I mean!" Felicity said giving him a small shove "I was at the press interview, when he issued his apology for beating you up."

"He didn't beat me up thank you,"

Felicity smirked

"Well he sure knows how to send you flying, you know I think he recognised me – I was the only person who grabbed his attention that's for sure."

Freddy glanced at her black cocktail dress

"I wonder what it was that grabbed his attention," he muttered "and of course he recognised you – you dated for two years!"

Felicity's smile faded and her face darkened

"Yeah well, look how that ended."

"Not this again!" Freddy moaned downing the remains of his drink.

"You know, I always thought we would work things out," Felicity mused ignoring Freddy completely "He just became so absorbed with his work,"

"You know Karim, that's how he's always been." Freddy muttered

"I still have the ring." Felicity said quietly

"I doubt he wants it back."

"He's not getting it back!" Felicity smiled again and Freddy chuckled "Look Freddy, I've been following these trials closer than anyone else in the media – I mean let's face it my brother and ex-fiancé are the lawyers! And I know that things will never be the same between Karim and me but that doesn't mean there's no future for the two of you."

"I don't need this." Freddy sighed but Felicity held his arm firmly to stop him from leaving

"Freddy he's your best friend! You've known each other all your lives! How can you just let everything you had disappear like this?"

"Listen Fliss," Freddy snapped losing his patience with her "Karim and I haven't been friends for years! Not since we graduated okay and nothing can fix things now – we're just too different. He cares, I don't, he defends and I prosecute we're the polar opposites and these trials have only made those differences more clear to me so enough of the emotional crap okay? As far as I'm concerned Karim Smith is nothing but a wind up who I have the misfortune of working with. I'm not his friend now and I never will be again!"

Felicity stood up and looked stonily down at her brother

"I just hope you don't regret that."


	12. Chapter 12

Ciao tutti!

Just a quick note from yours truly - a few people have been sending me messages saying that the legal system described in this story isn't very accurate so I thought I'd just quickly tie up some loose ends.

Firstly: _I know!_ Of course this isn't going to portray the legal system accurately I'm not intending to! This is meant to be a fictional work and whilst I could spend hours researching the legal system and protocols (or I could just ask my dad who's a lawyer) I figured it would be much better if I spent my time working on the characters and plot lines rather than the stuffy stuff :)

Secondly: Whilst it is in no way an accurate depiction of our legal system I am basing my story on the courts and procedure of the UK since it's where I'm from so that may explain why some jargon seems a bit off.

Anyway, hope it clears things up a little - enjoy the next chapter and feel free to message me with any more questions etc. oh, and please, please continue to review - I love knowing what works and what doesn't!

Until next time,

Arrivederci!

TE25

The FAYZ Trials – Chapter 12

Karim was sitting at his desk drenched. He'd gotten caught in the rain without a jacket and now he regretted even coming to the office at all. He was cold, wet and hungry and the only thing his office offered him by means of food was a half empty packet of peanuts he found in his drawer. The place was empty though which meant that at least he could turn up his music and de-stress. With a strong cup of black coffee at his side, Karim put on his reading glasses and pulled out Caine Soren's files.

It was tough reading – he wondered why he was even bothering, Caine stood next to no chance and there was nothing in his files that Karim could use as a final play. He sighed and ran his hands through his thick black hair. It was hopeless...

In her hotel room Diana called for room service. She ordered champagne on ice – not that she was celebrating anything, she just wanted something to do and Karim had left her some cash. Now that was something she could use against him if ever she needed to - a lawyer who drops her off at a swanky hotel, escorts her to her room then leaves her a handful of cash before legging it – it would be a simple case of her word against his.

Diana sighed and lay down on her bed – if only every case was as simple. If only Caine's case was as simple, this was his main case, the next one the one regarding the bugs attacking Perdido Beach would be a walk in the park for Caine after all, he'd practically saved the town and he'd easily be able to charm the jury. Why did Freddy have to be such a good lawyer? Caine had told her that Karim was the best defence in the business how come he didn't know about Freddy?

Her heart sank when the champagne arrived, what good would it do? It was hopeless...

Caine felt like crying. Actually crying. Why was this happening to him? What happened in the FAYZ should stay in the FAYZ like Vegas. Why did the world suddenly want to punish him for trying to stay alive? It's not like they'd been promised help or given a way out – as far as he knew at the time his pre-FAYZ life was over and he'd never be returning. Now, tomorrow he'd be finding out whether or not he was going to be locked up in a cell for good.

Caine couldn't handle that thought, the idea of being trapped, unable to do things or go places at his own will. It made him feel sick. Physically sick – he wanted to throw up on the spot. He thought about the stupid threats he'd made to Karim earlier about getting a different lawyer – who? He'd booked the best in the business!

Caine lay on his bed and tasted the saltiness of his tears. It was hopeless...

Karim put Caine's files away and dimmed the lights in his office. There was no point in looking for something that didn't exist. He headed back outside into the rain where he quickly made his way to his car. Inside he shivered, it was pretty cold now and a lot later than he'd thought, his watch read 11:15. He'd have to stop off at a Chinese on the way home and get some noodles. Stomach growling Karim decided it best if he grabbed food first before leaving town and drove down the road to a nearby hotel. It had bright, colourful bar lights glowing and a bustling crowd so he parked his car and went inside.

"What'll it be friend?" asked the barman. Karim ordered a plate of scampi and a beer – one beer would be ok as far as driving was concerned. Besides, he wanted to be off as soon as possible to get to bed.

He sat with his beer waiting for his food to arrive. The place was a bit of a dump but it seemed friendly enough, it was pretty lively for 11:15 – no wait 11:30 now he realised as he checked his watch again, a few guys were playing pool and there was a handful of people around the jukebox and at the tables.

Karim was halfway through his food when he spotted the blonde woman in a black cocktail dress. Felicity Wishman. Not the person he wanted to see but she'd spotted him too and was making her way towards him.

"Leave me alone." Karim said aware of how rude he sounded.

"Good to see you too." She replied taking a seat beside him "you know my brother is here." Karim glanced around but couldn't see Freddy, Felicity sniggered "oh don't worry, he's in the other bar. Can I get you a drink?" Karim ignored her – how could she possibly be so friendly after everything they'd been through and after everything he'd been through with her brother recently. How could she act so calm and cool, so friendly?

"Please just go away Felicity." Karim asked miserably

"I know you're feeling like crap right now Karim it's written all over your face," Felicity said casually "and being left alone is going to make you feel worse."

"Whiskey." Karim said to her, giving in "get me a whiskey." Felicity smirked and ordered. She looked so much like her brother when she smiled that way Karim noticed, like a smug snake. They chatted idly and soon they were ordering their third whiskeys.

"You disappointed me at the press interview today," she said once the drinks arrived "I was hoping for a scoop." Karim smiled at her, she looked so good under the dim lights, wide eyed and innocent no longer like her brother. Her brother. Freddy. Karim's mouth went sour

"Why don't you chat to Freddy? I'm sure he'd give you one."

"You two used to be friends!"

"Yeah? And we used to be engaged, things change Fliss!" Karim cringed the last time he'd called her Fliss they were sharing an apartment together.

"Nothing changed for me and you know that Karim," Felicity said sadly, Karim turned on her angrily

"Oh yeah? Well then why call it off? I wanted to marry you Fliss, you were the one with other ideas!"

"How could I marry someone who's already married to his work?" she said with tears in her eyes "I called off the engagement you called off the relationship!"

"Felicity I was in love with you!" Karim said feeling angry again

"I'm still in love with you!" she replied breathlessly. Karim faltered and struggled to find words "you were my world Karim! I wanted you to make an honest woman of me, I wanted you to be my husband but all you cared about was your work! I was always second best to your cases and clients – how do you think that made me feel? And when I called it off you didn't even fight for me!"

Karim wasn't sure how to process the information he was hearing. It had been two years since their breakup and she'd never once told him the way she really felt.

"I love you Karim," Felicity said "and I don't care what Freddy says I know that I'll never find anyone even a fraction as good as you were!"

"Felicity please, we've moved on!"

"Really?! Do you have a girlfriend? Have you had a girlfriend – no. Just work."

"It's not like that and it never was!" Karim argued angry with her for putting in him such a situation and for suddenly allowing his feelings for her to resurface. "I loved you but you just couldn't deal with the fact that my job is also important in my life."

"If you loved me you'd put away your pride and realise that there are more important things in life than making a name for yourself as a high flying lawyer!" she said loudly

"Tell your brother!" Karim yelled "I'm trying to help these kids!"

Felicity laughed

"Don't fool yourself Karim – please, if you really loved me, if you ever did before, even if you don't anymore it wouldn't be so easy for you to break my heart like this," she took his hand in hers "you'd give us one more try."

Karim stared at her then stood up

"I have to go."

Caine knew he had one phone call that he could use whilst locked up. One chance to ring someone and beg them for help. His hand clutched the phone and he felt the eyes of his guard watching him as he pressed the number buttons. It was a number he'd had written down in a journal since the days of the FAYZ but had never used. He didn't know why he'd kept it really but he just thanked his own subconscious for never throwing it out as he waited with baited breath for the voice at the other line...

Freddy was shooting pool. He wasn't a big fan of pool but after a few beers and an earful from his sister it was a welcome distraction. Besides, he knew he'd have to wait a couple of hours before getting back into his car to let the alcohol wear off.

After four or five frames with complete strangers and a very strong coffee, he checked his watch and decided to get going. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and he didn't want to be late or over-tired, most of all he didn't want to be wearing the same clothes two days in a row in front of the cameras. As he left the bar he looked around for Felicity but she'd already left – good, he didn't fancy having another heart to heart. Before leaving he picked up a coffee from the vending machine and a packet of crisps so that he'd keep himself occupied and awake at the wheel.

Outside it was still raining, heavier than earlier and Freddy had to run to his car to avoid getting soaked. He switched the heater on inside and turned the radio onto the late night driving station which was playing a loud eighties ballad – good, he thought, at least he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel with that racket. Giving his windscreen a quick wipe with his sleeve, Freddy drove off into the night.

Astrid was making herself a pot of tea and was thinking about Sam and Caine. Caine had his jury results tomorrow and surely he'd be found guilty this would mean that he'd call for a re-trial just like Sam. Maybe if the general public could see how Karim continued to support Sam and Caine in their re-trials as well as their original trials they would understand what they'd been through better and call the whole trials off.

Who was she kidding? Today the worst news she'd never hoped to receive landed on her doormat in the form of a court summons. She was going to be trialled for the murder of Peter Ellison. Her own brother, Little Pete. Reading the letter had left her cold, until now she'd always been optimistic about her own fate back in the 'real world' but now she knew that she would spend the rest of her life – found guilty or not – regarded as the girl who killed her own brother.

Tomorrow after the jury's decision she was going to have to make an appointment to see Karim and be the next in a long line of FAYZ kids to ask for his help. With that thought in mind she left her kitchen and headed upstairs to bed with her tea. Perhaps she would read a few chapters of a new novel to soothe her and help her get to sleep, but before Astrid could decide which book to read her phone began to ring...

Karim was drunk and he knew it. Too much whiskey and talk from Felicity as well as a good too many shots after her little revelation had left him wandering the streets in the rain, dazed and lost. His only thought was to find his car but he knew he couldn't drive – weird he thought. He soon stumbled along a main road, it was quiet so maybe he could hitch a ride if he stayed near the edge of the road. He tripped along the kerb and landed face down in a puddle of mud and rain. Carefully he stood up, like Bambi learning to walk and made his way along the edge of the road, up ahead he saw the yellow lights of an oncoming car...

Diana was channel hopping when she began to think of Caine. Karim was useless with him and there was zero chance that he'd be getting off lightly tomorrow, one thing was clear: no matter how much of a nice guy Karim was Caine needed a better, stronger lawyer. Something had to be done, he had to find himself someone new.

But who? Everyone knew that Karim was the only guy out there who was willing to risk his reputation and defend the FAYZ kids, it was either too risky, too expensive or too big a case for any other lawyer. Diana sighed and realised that Karim would just have to do, he was the only guy good enough to even come close to winning cases for Caine, nobody was as good as Karim. She switched off the TV and went to turn off the lights when she suddenly had a thought and reached for her phone...

"_Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard!_" Freddy was actually starting to enjoy his drive home when he spotted a shadowy figure at the side of the road ahead of him, he turned his music down and slowed down slightly, his foot hovering over the accelerator in case it was some weirdo with a gun, as a lawyer he was no stranger to the stories of armed gangs mobbing lonely cars or diners along the highway at night and didn't intend on being the next in a long line of victims.

To his complete surprise it was Karim. Freddy pulled over next to him and rolled down his window

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled over at Karim who for some reason was covered in mud. "You could get yourself run over or something!" Karim turned to face him and smiled like a guy who was high – Freddy knew that dazed smile: Karim was drunk.

"Hey Freddy boy!" Karim waved "Nice wheels boy – let's – let's go burn up the road together whoooo!"

He sighed – half of him wanted to drive off and leave the idiot wander around like a lunatic but the other half, the better half told him otherwise. "Get it!" he ordered at Karim unlocking the passenger door. Karim stepped forward and fumbled at the door, impatiently Freddy opened his own door and shoved Karim inside out of the rain before driving off again.

"You don't have to do this" Karim slurred as Freddy handed him his coffee.

"Well I'm a nice guy." Freddy muttered "you're going to have to come back to my place but it's a sofa you're getting and that's it!"

"Your house is...is...like a million miles away man!"Karim moaned "It's like...like...Texas! That's how far away it is! Do you know how far away Texas is Freddy?"

"Well it depends if you're in Arizona or Alaska," Freddy replied tartly "How long is a piece of string?"

Karim stared blankly at him

"Exactly!" he pointed and prodded Freddy in the cheek "How long is the string huh? Man you're so clever man no wonder you're a lawyer Freddy so, so clever man – even if you do live in Texas"

Freddy rolled his eyes

"Right that's it – we're getting you something to eat, I'm not sitting next to this all night."

"Where we going Fred?"

"There's a diner up at the next junction – you need lots of coffee and I need a break."

"Is it far?" Karim asked

"Not again please-"

"Because I think I'm going to throw up!"

Freddy turned to stare at Karim who had suddenly gone ghostly white.

"No way! Not in my car! Not on these seats!"

"Yeah, no – I'm going to be sick man!" Karim had gone from white to green "you got a bag?"

"Oh for Christ's sake Karim!" Freddy hit the brakes, pulled over, switched off the car and waited in disgust as Karim threw up his guts at the side of the road. It was times like this he wished he still smoked it would have been a welcome distraction. Instead he went and sat back in his car out of the drizzle and the cold. He didn't bother switching on the engine – he didn't want the battery to run down in the middle of nowhere and who knew how long Karim would be doing his business in the bushes.

"Hey how you doing back there Karim?" he called out as he checked his tweets – he was trending again.

"Pretty uh- good!" Karim's voice sounded embarrassed and Freddy knew that he'd sobered up a little.

A minute or two later Karim opened the door rather sheepishly and sat down next to Freddy. He looked pale but better. Freddy tossed him a bottle of water he'd had stored in the glove department

"Thanks," he sighed taking a swig. They sat in silence for a while. "Y'know I don't even remember the last time I was this drunk!" Karim said breaking the silence

"I do," Freddy said "you were passed out on my sofa the night you and Felicity got engaged." Karim frowned and looked at him

"I was?"

Freddy laughed

"You certainly were!"

"Oh my God! I don't even remember that night!" he laughed "man, I must have drunk _a lot_!"

"Oh come on Karim!" Freddy laughed "don't act so surprised I was always picking you up off the floor in college!"

"That's true," Karim smiled "always made sure I had somewhere to sleep at night!"

"At least you got to sleep!" Freddy said giving him a light hearted shove "I'd be up all night checking you hadn't choked to death on your own sick!"

"Ho-ho! Right I believe you there pal!" Karim snorted "I don't remember you ever getting any sleep in college if you know what I mean!?" Freddy grinned and shook his head with a laugh

"Always got more action than you huh K?" he tapped Karim on the back patronizingly but in a friendly way

"I guess," Karim said with a wry smile "but then again – even back then I was sleeping with your sister!"

Freddy stared at him for a second in disbelief then the two of them burst out laughing, normally at first but soon the two of them were crying with laughter.

"Oh man!" Freddy smiled "come on K, let's get going." He wiped a tear from his eye and went to reach for the keys when suddenly he was blinded by the headlamps of a speeding oncoming lorry.


	13. Chapter 13

The FAYZ Trials – Chapter 13

Felicity Wishman lived in a nice, trendy apartment in the city. It had a designer fitted kitchen, a large open plan living area with amazing views of the park, a great bedroom with a double bed and an ensuite bathroom with his and her sinks. It had everything a newly engaged couple would need – only she lived alone in the too big, too expensive flat.

She'd planned to find somewhere else to live, somewhere smaller and closer to work but for whatever reason she couldn't bring herself to cancel her rent and look for somewhere new. Even after the last box of Karim's junk had left from under the bed and the smell of his aftershave had finally left the bathroom she still couldn't bring herself to do it. It was like there was something holding her back and stopping her, as if there was a chance Karim would come back if she stayed.

That night she had returned home at around two o'clock, tired and slightly worse for wear after her encounters with both Karim and her brother Freddy. Despite feeling rough she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep so she made herself a coffee and went to check her twitter account. She had twelve new interactions which she dealt with and three new followers, Freddy was still trending worldwide and he and Karim were both still the most talked about people on the internet. More so than any of the FAYZ kids, even more than Caine who had always been the most popular kid since the FAYZ came down. Reading all the reports made her feel sick, she couldn't deal with all the pictures of Karim in his suits in court and in and around the city – it made her heart ache. She snapped her laptop closed and drank her coffee in silence. Then she picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she landed on one name: Karim. She didn't even have his surname next to his name – why would she need his surname? It was going to be her surname.

Felicity took a breath and dialled...

That night around the city three phone calls were made all at the exact same time, only two calls connected and only one call was answered.

Freddy Wishman was upside down. He opened his eyes and everything was upside down – upside down and red. He blinked and it was still red and still upside down. He licked his lips which were dry and tasted of salt. Why was he upside down? Why did his mouth taste like iron? Why was his shoulder suddenly beginning to throb with excruciating pain?

Slowly, Freddy began to remember what had happened – yes – he had been in his car when he saw the lights. Panic hit Freddy as he realised what had happened and why he was upside down and covered in blood – the lorry had smashed headfirst into his car.

Freddy tried to move but the pain in his shoulder made it impossible for him to even turn slightly. He called out for help but there was no reply. Where was the lorry driver? Had he gone to get help? Had anyone called the police? But to his dismay everything around him was silent.

Freddy had to get out of the car – he knew that much – so he figured he would have to endure the pain in his shoulder and fight his way out of the car.

He fumbled at his seatbelt and once unbuckled he slumped back into the chair suddenly, banging his head in the process. He had to bite his cheeks to stop himself from crying out from the pain in his shoulder as he twisted his body around towards the door. It took his five painful shoves to push it open and crawl out of the wreckage. Outside he managed to get to his feet, his suit was covered in shards of glass and when he glanced at his shoulder he saw that it had fallen out of the socket. He nearly threw up on the spot – he'd never ever had an injury like this before and had no idea how to deal with it, the worst he'd ever had was a broken finger from playing baseball in college. He felt the side of his head where a stream of blood was slowly ebbing from his right temple and flinched at the touch.

He turned back to his car to inspect the damage. It was a miracle he was still alive – the lorry had slammed headlong into the car and they'd rolled several feet down the highway before finally coming to a stop with the lorry only meters behind them.

Suddenly, Freddy remembered Karim – of course! Karim had been in the car with him! Freddy ducked down back into the car and looked over to the passenger seat. Karim was lying out cold, slumped in his chair with blood all over his head and face. Most worryingly of all, his neck was at a terribly odd angle. Freddy clambered onto his own seat and carefully gave Karim's arm a shake

"Karim – can you hear me?" he shook him a little harder but Karim didn't budge. Freddy felt his chest tighten with panic. He reached into his pocket for his phone but it had been crushed beyond recognition, angrily he tossed it aside and looked around for Karim's. It was in his jacket pocket; Freddy pulled it out and called for the police,

"Yeah I need the police and an ambulance right away!" he said his voice shaking "It's Freddy Wishman, we've been in a crash, a bad crash and my friend is uh – like he's unconscious! We're about a mile south from junction 22!"

"Alright sir," replied the operator "we'll be with you as soon as possible -"

"You need to get here right away!" Freddy interrupted and he leaned closer to Karim and hovered his hand over his mouth "he's not breathing!" He pocketed the phone aside before the operator could answer and felt around for a pulse on Karim's neck.

"I've got to get him out," he muttered to himself "Come on Karim! Talk to me!" He undid Karim's belt then rushed outside and opened Karim's door from the outside so that he could pull him out. He had gotten Karim halfway out when he heard a gruff voice calling out to him;

"Hey! Don't do that!" Freddy saw a tall bearded man with a face full of blood running towards him "don't move him it might injure him more!"

"Who the hell are you?" Freddy asked ignoring his pleas to stop

"It was my van that hit you – I've called for help from the payphone down the road! What the hell happened?"

"You tell me!" Freddy replied angrily "you drove straight into us!"

"I didn't see you until it was too late!" the guy shouted "your lights were off!"

Freddy didn't have time to argue and he went back to pulling Karim out of the wreckage.

"You shouldn't do that!"

"He's not breathing okay?" Freddy snapped at the guy "I have to help him before the police get here or it might be too late!" he tugged at Karim and he was free, in the distance he could hear the sound of sirens.

"Come on K," he said looking at his bloodstained friend whose neck was lying at an impossible angle. Freddy bent down and tried to resuscitate Karim's lifeless body "come on Karim!" he gasped fighting back the tears in his eyes as Karim's chest failed to rise or fall. "COME ON!"

"I'm sorry," the lorry driver said placing his hand on Freddy's back

"Don't be!" Freddy said shaking his hand away "don't be sorry, he's fine! He's going to be okay!" Freddy's voice broke; he held Karim in his arms and refused to believe what was happening.

He was suddenly pulled aside by three paramedics who had finally arrived. Freddy stood back covered in his own and Karim's blood and watched as the three of them hurriedly unbuttoned Karim's shirt and slammed a defibrillator onto his chest. Karim's body didn't respond the first time nor the second nor the third or fourth and finally one of the paramedics spoke into his radio;

"There's nothing more we can do – dead on arrival"

Inside Freddy's pocket, Karim's phone began to ring. It was Felicity.

Caine held his breath as he waited for the sound of the phone being picked up on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" the voice rang like bells in Caine's ear.

"Astrid is that you?" he asked

"Yes, it is," there was a pause "who is this?"

"It's uh...Caine, Caine Soren," he replied , he heard Astrid catch her breath on the other line. "Please don't hang up on me! He begged

"Give me one good reason," she replied haughtily

"Look Astrid," Caine said "I know you don't like me in fact you hate me ok? I know that alright? But I need to you help me,"

"HELP YOU?!" came Astrid's voice and Caine knew how stupid it sounded "why on earth would I help you after everything you've done?!"

"Because I am about to go to prison okay!? Look, I know that the stuff I did in the FAYZ was unforgivable okay but I just can't do this – I can't go to jail I just can't Astrid! Not because I would have lost or been seen as weak but because I'm scared, please, just say you'll help me!"

Astrid was silent on the other line for a second or two and Caine could practically hear the cogs in her head whirring, finally she responded;

"What do you want?" she asked, Caine could hardly believe what he was hearing it had been a long shot but was she seriously agreeing to help him out?!

"I need you to make a statement defending me at my re-trial." He said

"Re-trail?"

Caine scoffed "Look Astrid you're the genius here but it doesn't take one to realise that tomorrow that jury is going to find me guilty so I've already got the papers sorted for a re-trial, I've just got to send them to Karim, look, I've seen you defend Sam and it's amazing – you must be the only person who can put Freddy Wishman in his place, it's incredible!"

"Stop it please, I'm blushing," Astrid said with so much snark that for a second Caine thought she'd hung up and he was talking to Diana.

"Please Astrid, you don't want to see any FAYZ kid in jail, you've said so before!"

"Well, you'd be the exception." She replied coldly, Caine could feel the deal slipping from his grasp:

"Look if it makes any difference I'll do the same for you if needs be, I heard they're going to open the whole Pete case soon."

"Are you blackmailing me?!" Astrid's voice was shrill and he knew he'd hit a nerve

"No. But I'll consider it now you've brought it up," he replied half serious "please Astrid," he waited for her reply but what Caine heard next was chilling

"Oh my God!" Astrid breathed

"What? What's the matter?" he asked

"Turn – turn on the TV," she gasped.

Why wasn't Freddy's phone on? Diana wondered as she redialled for the fourth time in a feeble attempt to call him, at first she thought she had the wrong number but it was printed on the front page of the newspaper in her room.

"Piece of junk," she snapped slamming the receiver down impatiently. She went and sat on the sofa too irritated to think of sleep and flicked on the TV. The news channel came on and as usual Freddy and Karim's faces were plastered all over the screen, Diana sighed and went to switch channel when she read the headline and froze, it read:

BREAKING NEWS: 'FAYZ TRIALS' LAWYER DIES IN CAR ACCIDENT

Freddy was rushed to hospital along with Karim. What was the point? He thought as he sat numbly in the ambulance, there was nothing they could do, he was gone – dead. He didn't even know why he was going to hospital one of the paramedics had given him morphine and popped his shoulder back into place.

"We need to check you for internal bleeding Mr Wishman," the female paramedic had explained "you were in a very serious accident."

"I know how serious it was." Freddy snapped.

When they reached the hospital the place was crawling with the press and the media as if it were Oscar night which made Freddy sick. He was wheeled inside by the paramedics even though he had assured them he could walk.

Once inside Freddy stood up and waited for a doctor but before he could be seen he spotted the one face he didn't want to see: Felicity

"Freddy!" she gasped when she saw him and ran to embrace him "Oh my God are you alright? What happened? Thank God you're okay!" she hugged him but Freddy couldn't move, she didn't know that much was obvious from the smile on her face, how was he supposed to tell her?

"I've was so worried when you answered Karim's phone, you sounded awful but at least you're okay now!" she wiped away tears from her eyes and gave a nervous giggle.

"Fliss," Freddy said

"I've called Mom and Dad and they're on their way, Mom was having a fit when I told her-"

"Fliss!"

"Oh my God, I'm sorry I'm just so relieved you're okay and Karim is als-"

"FELICITY!" Freddy shouted shutting her up before she could finish, she stared at him in surprise, her big blue eyes innocently naive.

"What's wrong?" she asked giving his arm a squeeze

"It's Karim," Freddy said unable to look her in the eye – in an instant her smile vanished and her face went pale

"What about him?" she whispered, Freddy looked at his sister but couldn't speak "Freddy what's wrong with Karim?!" she demanded her voice rising an octave

"I'm sorry," Freddy said with strain and she shook her head, her mouth dropping open

"No – no, don't say it!" she cried "please don't say it!"

"He's gone Fliss," Freddy said "he didn't make it."

"No, no, no, no, no!" she gasped clutching at Freddy's arms

"He's dead Fliss, he was dead before they even got to us,"

Felicity's knees buckled and Freddy had to catch her from falling, she knelt on the ground and sobbed into her brothers chest.

Caine watched in disbelief as the news channel repeated the same news over and over until he was watching the morning news.

How could Karim be dead?! He was his lawyer! What was he going to do now?

Diana was all cried out – only hours ago had Karim driven her to the very hotel she was staying in with the promise of collecting her the next morning and now he was dead. According to the news he'd died instantly as soon as the lorry hit Freddy Wishman's car. Why was he in a car with him? They hated each other – didn't they?


	14. Chapter 14 - Epilogue

Hi everyone, sorry for the wait but here it is! The final part of the FAYZ Trials :) Just a quick note to say thank you all for reading and I hope you've all enjoyed this story - please feel free to message me with any reviews etc. I have some exciting news - The FAYZ Trials has been nominated for 7 Awards in the 2013 Gone Awards including: Best One Shot, Best Caine Story, Best Sam Story, Best AU, Best OC, Best Drama and Best Post FAYZ Story! Without wanting to sound like a glory hunter, I'd love it if you could vote for the story - (check out the 2013 Gone Awards forum for more info) it would mean so much to me if this story could win any one of those awards! Anyway, enjoy the story and be sure to let me know what you think! :) xxx

TRE25

The FAYZ Trials – Epilogue

Epilogue

6 months later

Caine could feel a pulse flickering under his eye. It bugged him, was it noticeable or was it so slight nobody could see? It was a sign of nerves and he didn't want people to think he was nervous, not after all this time, not after waiting six months for a verdict he now knew would probably sway in his favour as a result of what happened to Karim.

After the news broke of his tragic death the media and general public went wild, The FAYZ Trials were trending worldwide and TV news channels reported nothing other than FAYZ related stuff. The trials were of course, postponed and Caine had as a result spent the last six months n a low security jail. Diana had initially been sent back to the asylum but her doctors had released her about a week after and since then she'd spent most of her time in the jail visiting Caine.

Sam Temple had, like Caine been moved to the low security prison and Astrid Ellison's case against her brother had been cancelled indefinitely. Quinn Gaither was allowed out on bail and the other FAYZ kids who hadn't been called up yet were allowed to walk free. Caine had seen them all, Edilio, Lana, Dekka and even that Sanjit kid the one time he'd been allowed out of jail. To attend the funeral. That was a tough day, Diana had cried a lot which was pretty unsettling for Caine and Freddy Wishman and his journalist sister were there too but all FAYZ kids had been warned to stay away from them.

The funeral had been attended by hundreds. Most of them were family members of the FAYZ kids, even the ones who never made it out, Karim had been, after all the defender of the FAYZ kids and most just wanted to pay their respects and silently thank him for believing in the kids.

But all of that was months ago and once Karim's funeral and memorial service were done and dusted everything went back to an eerie kind of normal that Caine was now used to. Wake up, wait, eat, wait, hope for a telephone call, wait, eat, wait, sleep, dream, wait all on loop. It wasn't until two months had passed since the funeral that Caine heard from the judge of the trials, he told them that the most serious cases and the outstanding results would continue and be resolved and that Caine would have to either represent himself in court or get a new lawyer, this was the same for Sam. Of course, noble Sam didn't want a new lawyer to replace Karim and would be standing alone, as for Caine, well, he wanted a lawyer but had no chance in hell of getting one: the good lawyers wanted nothing to do with the case – some were too afraid of the pressures and responsibilities that it entailed, others thought the job was cursed and the rest wanted more money that Caine had ever dreamt of – and they were usually the bad lawyers anyway. So he too, was standing alone.

And right now he was standing alone waiting to hear his fate. Sam was next and was up in the gallery surrounded by police. The room fell silent as the Judge entered, gone were the days of excited nobodies from the street trying to get pictures from the gallery, nobody was gossiping now and there was a single TV camera in the corner of the room for the Crime Channel.

Following the Judge came the man that Caine had hated for months but also secretly admired: Freddy Wishman.

Freddy walked silently across the floor and took his place at his desk. The room was silent and remarkably sober for such a high profile case. He placed his note down on his desk and poured himself a glass of water careful not to spill any over his new black suit. Then, he waited for Clark's signal,

"The court accuses Mr Caine Soren of the following crimes..." Freddy listened as the Judge listed the heinous crimes Caine was responsible for until it was time for him to stand "I know call upon the prosecution Mr Frederick Wishman to make his voice heard for the final time before the jury resigns and then we shall hear from the defendant." Despite himself Freddy glanced over at the empty desk to his right expecting to see a nervous yet calm looking Karim shuffling his papers in anticipation. A lump caught in his throat and he felt his knees wobble as he stood and picked up the one note of paper he'd brought with him into court.

"Thank you your Honour," he said. He sighed, here goes...

"I have spent the last year working exhaustively in order to bring what I thought was justice to our people by prosecuting the likes of Mr Caine Soren and Mr Sam Temple. I spent my every waking hour planning, preparing, researching and striving to convince this jury that these boys are guilty of every charge against them but I was consistently thwarted by one man: Mr Karim Smith. No matter how much work I did, no matter how hard I had prepared he was always there to put up a splendid fight. At first, I thought his persistence was born out of rivalry and that we, the two of us were simply point scoring in court in front of the world's press and media but I couldn't have been more wrong, Karim Smith wasn't putting up such a fight for the sake of it, he wasn't constantly battling me in court to compete with me or to increase his status in front of the cameras, he was doing it because he believed in what he was fighting for. He believed in these children and he did what nobody else was willing to do: he helped them. He fought for them and defended them when the couldn't defend themselves. The rest of the world turned on them, they were monsters, mutants, malicious creatures that resembled what we once called our children. They were evil, thieving, murderous, cold-blooded psychopaths who deserved to be locked up away from society forever. Karim Smith was different, he saw them for what they really are: scared, frightened children who were somehow thrown into to a world none of us could ever even begin to imagine. A world of Darkness and evil, a world where there was no parents to tell them things would be ok, no teachers, no policemen only kids, kids and more kids. Kids who ended up killing themselves, taking drugs, drinking, shooting and burying their fellow children, and no matter how bad the crime the child was charged with Karim Smith always saw them and treated them for what they really were, not monsters but children, whereas me, I saw only the crimes listed on the paper and the opportunity to showcase my skills to the world." Freddy paused, he had reached the end of his notes

"Karim Smith as everyone in this room already knows, died in a car accident six months ago. Tragically taken from us in the blink of an eye the FAYZ kids are left with nobody to defend them and I am left with a relatively simple job now that their Protector is gone forever, to me Karim Smith has left me with a group of sitting ducks at point blank range. Without Karim Smith here to save them these boys and girls stand no chance against me,"

Freddy saw Caine Soren's lower eye twitch nervously. He was scared, he knew what was coming, he knew what he was going to get. Freddy put his sheet of paper down and walked out from behind his desk.

"But you see, Your Honour, I can't possibly prosecute anyone who is at such a disadvantage, after all what would be the fun in attacking a fifteen year old boy who has no lawyer to support him? And so I must admit defeat and congratulate the late Karim Smith for once again leaving me well and truly beaten and step down from my position as prosecutor with immediate effect."

A gasp echoed around the half full room, Freddy heard the quiet tapping of mobile keypads and phones buzzed, over in the corner the cameraman hurriedly set up a second camera and Clark stared down at Freddy in disbelief,

"Mister Wishman are you sure you know what you are saying?" he spluttered, Freddy smiled and nodded

"Yes, I have spent a lot of time thinking these past few months and I have finally realised that Karim was right all along, we can't call these kids criminals, we can't put them on trial in our world when they were so obviously living in hell. I learnt a lot from Karim Smith and I simply cannot prosecute Caine Soren, Sam Temple or any of the other FAYZ kids, it is immoral and absurd and nobody here has the right to judge them – including, with all due respect you, Your Honour."

"Mister Wishman we can't just abandon the cases mid-trial!" Clark said shifting uncomfortably in his chair. By now several more reporters were crowded in the gallery and the crowd was growing more and more by the second

"The way I see it Your Honour," Freddy said turning away from the audience "you have two choices: either you close this case and abandon all this stupid, pointless trials or..." Freddy cast a glance up at Caine Soren the boy who was so obviously guilty "or, you get some other lawyer to take me on because I will be the defence of these children!"

With that the room exploded with chatter, cameras flashed, mobiles buzzed and Clark had to call for silence,

"I think it's safe to say that taking everything into account, Mister Wishman has left me with no choice..."

Thirty TV interviews, five press conferences, six paparazzi crowds and eight hours later Freddy Wishman stood outside an empty office within the court. The sign on the door looked as ordinary as any other in the building, it read: Mr. K. Smith. Freddy took a breath and opened the door. The room was untouched, it was the same as it was the day Karim died. Only the empty waste paper bin and document free desk indicated that the room hadn't been used in months.

Freddy had been expecting the room to be cold and eerie but he was wrong, there was a strange warmth to it as if Karim had just nipped out for a coffee and would be back at any second. Freddy passed Karim's diploma certificate which was framed and set on the bookshelf. Next to it were the files of all the cases Karim had successfully completed, there must have been at least thirty.

"You always were the better lawyer," Freddy said looking at the different files and their names. Then he pulled out another file from his briefcase, a single black file that read: The FAYZ Trials and set it open on Karim's desk. Freddy pulled a pen from his breast pocket and signed the last sheet in the file. Then Freddy placed it gently on the bookshelf next to the last of Karim's files before leaving the room for the very last time.

Freddy had written two words in The FAYZ Trials file:

Case Closed


End file.
